Left Us Falling
by EpikalStorms
Summary: Something happened to Tsuanyoshi Sawada, when he was very young. Now, he's disappeared. A year or so later, the Vongola call upon the famous phantom thief Sagi. They need to get that stolen Sky Ring back before something terrible happens. But there's a whole other mystery going on with Sagi himself. Can our favorite mafia group find out what it is? (T for language)
1. Sagi

_**-Left Us Falling-**_

"_I never knew something so innocent could be so..."_

"_Deceiving?" He tilted his chin downward, eyes sharp._

_The other frowned. "No, that's not right."_

"_A forgery, then."_

"_Yes." His eyes widened in realization. "A fake. A false child."_

"_But he's real. Very young in actuality."_

"_That's what makes it so sad."_

"_It hurts to even look at him, doesn't it? When you know the truth."_

_He turned away, glancing over at the other. "The whole truth."_

"_Exactly. Not just a small part of it. The entire story."_

_The dark eyed man was silent, then, until he let out a sigh and began to walk away._

"_Somehow, though, I don't think we've even grazed the surface of this."_

"_This child..."_

"_Is someone you do not want to trifle with."_

_The fact that they were already in too deep to recover wasn't lost on either of them._

"He looks so lonely..." The woman sighed, gazing sadly at the tiny form that was leaning against the corner, at the entrance to an alleyway. It was hard to believe that these people could come so young.

She was dressed in a black silk dress that hugged her form tightly, a white fur coat settled around her shoulders. She sat at a table covered by a white tablecloth, the sound of wine glasses clinking together mixed in with the classical music of the high class restaurant. Across from her, her husband was speaking to his brother in low tones. She could barely hear what they were saying, it all came in bits and pieces, but she knew it was really none of her business.

"...again...need to...-mthing about..."

"...-gree...find a...stop..."

"Do...assistance?"

"...think...have it covered...call you if...awry."

"Alright...try and..."

They turned and addressed her."

"Did you say something, Heiko?" Her husband asked her. Heiko sighed again, shaking her head and looking back at the child that was loitering just barely in her sight, half hidden by the shadows of the alleyway—which was most likely his home. "Oh... no, nothing..."

Her brother-in-law, Ryoshi, glanced to where her gaze was directed and smiled sadly. "The homeless are a tragic sight, Heiko. We can't really do anything about it."

Her honey eyes burned with sadness. "But... just him, ne? I mean... he's so very young. He couldn't be more than five!"

"We can't take in every little stray we come across, honey." Hanta told her. Her husbands eyes were looking anywhere but in the direction his companions were gazing. Heiko knew that one look at the sad little boy in the bright orange hoodie and washed out blue jeans, and he wouldn't be able to say no.

She set her cutlery down on the plate before her, escargot forgotten. "I know. It's just..." She shook her eyes. "I know."

Then, all three of them looked over, and saw a flash of orange as the small child backed away and disappeared into the gaping entrance of the alley. They all felt involuntary shivers run down their spines, but didn't know why. Had the boy been observing them, too? It seemed like...

Ryoshi shook his head. No, that was preposterous. He turned back to his brother, casting his sister-in-law a gentle smile of reassurance, which she returned, going back to her food.

"So, Hanta, about that deal..."

**(Think carefully.)**

"You got it, right?"

The tall man nodded, stepping forward and placing a steel case on the dark, maple desk with a light thud.

"Was there any trouble?" His boss cast him a searching look. The man readjusted his darkened sunglasses and gave a negative. "No, sir. Everything went very smoothly. We went in, just like you said. The package was there, with a note. It was typed. We took both, and left. That was it."

The man behind the desk. "Good work, then, Giovanni. You may leave. The note?"

"Taped to the top of the case, sir. It was sitting in the locker, in the train station that was spoken of, but we tested both just to be safe. They're clean, sir."

"Very well. Thank you."

"Of course, sir."

The man left, and the other, who'd been sitting at the desk, reached forward to unlatch the case. It fell open with a silent hiss, and he grinned at the cool air that blasted into his face. There, nestled in between the black cloth that kept them from moving, were vials of thick glass that contained a slick, orange liquid. "I see he didn't disappoint. Good." He snapped the case shut again, it took some force, but closed with another shallow hiss. He flipped the container over, to see a folded piece of pristine, run-of-the-mill printing paper, taped with that standard colorless tape you could buy at any convenience store worldwide. Carefully running his fingered under the slip of paper, he snapped it off of the surface of the case, and unfolded it. Black words, typed in a simple font, stared back at him.

_Client-san,_

_Here are your laboratory samples._

_Sagi had lots of fun on this job. _

_Thank you._

_~Sagi_

Sagi. A well-known thief of the underworld—possible one of the most famous. Sagi never failed a job when he got one, and was extremely hard to get in contact with. He was the best of the best, and no one—_no one—_knew who he was. Nothing about him, at all. Not his name, what he looked like, his age, what type of jobs he prefered, nothing. He'd only been active for a year, just popped up out of no where. They say that if a job interested him enough, he'd offer to take it himself. He left no way for anyone to contact him—people who wanted him to do jobs for them had to wait patiently, post out subtle notices, and just hope that he'd see them and send word.

The man shook his head. From hat he'd heard—and these were just rumors—no one even knew how Sagi completed his jobs. You'd give him a task, and you wouldn't hear for him for about three days to a week, depending on the job—then, whatever you'd asked for would somehow end up in your hands, and it would only be noticed as missing the next day. Sagi would always leave something behind, though—a card. Plane white, as small as a business card. Nothing but six words in plain black print. Words that said; _Thank you for playing with Sagi._

Most gave Sagi the personality, then, of an extremely playful and charismatic thief that enjoyed a good laugh. A faceless person with a childlike personality.

The man shook his head, half amused at Sagi's antics, and half incredulous. It was as if the thief thought of all of this as a mere _game_ to pass the time. Letting out a breath, he reached for his phone and tapped in a number to tell his boss that he had the vials in his possession.

Whatever. It wasn't his problem anymore. The transaction was complete.

**(Once you decide to let him in...)**

"_Mommy's sorry, baby." The woman cooed, choking back tears. "She's so, so sorry..."_

"_Mama? Wewer's Daddy go'in...?"_

"_Take him! Take him and __**run**__!"_

"_Stop, stop! Let my baby go, I'll do anything!"_

"_Anything?" Laughter echoed throughout the young child's head, now. Dark and foreboding._

"_Take a...good long look at this, boy." The man sneered, pinching the tiny child's ear so hard that a small trickle of blood flowered beneath his fingers. "This...is your new life, now."_

"_I'm sorry, honey." The maid sent him a sad glance, eyes full of a large amount of sympathy and a small sliver of disgust for what her master was doing with him. "I can't help you."_

"_No, stop!" the child, only three, screamed. "Please...?!"_

_He ran, even faster than his short, thin legs could carry him. He ran until his breath stopped coming and he fell to the ground in complete and utter exhaustion._

_Strong arms picked him up, and he didn't know anything else._

"Are you alright, son?" The child was ripped out of his short daze and glanced up to see a tall, broad shouldered man in a dark brown suit standing over him, looking down with a short frown.

The tiny boy grinned, tugging his hood down further over his eyes. He could see the man start to unconsciously lean back, trying to get a better look at his face.

No one's ever seen his face, though. It was going to stay like that. For now.

He shook his head, and the voices and noises that had been echoing loudly in his mind, memories, distracting him from his day, were gone again. They were starting to recede further back, and he was beginning to hear them less and less. That was good. He looked back slightly and gave the man a very big smile. "Yes, mister! Why?" He titled his head, wondering.

The man shook his head. "Oh, nothing. I'm sorry... Where are your parents?"

The boy blinked. The man swore he saw an bright orange colored glow flash. "They not here."

"Did you loose them?" The man squatted down in front of him.

"Nu-uh." The boy giggled, shaking his head. "They not here."

"Then.." The man was beginning to look even more confused as the seconds ticked by. "Where are they?"

The tiny child only grinned, waving his tiny hands at the man's face. "They... not here!" He giggled madly, then turned and disappeared into the dark alley that was located next to them. The man stared after the small, fragile-looking figure that was clothed in a bright orange hooded child's jacket, looking alarmed for all it's worth.

"What a...strangle little boy..." He mumbled, before picking up his briefcase and continuing down the sidewalk towards the main road to pick up a taxi for his way home.

Stepping into the bright yellow car he'd flagged down, he handed the driver a wad of cash before stating his destination. As the vehicle sped down the streets, the man brought his briefcase onto his lapped and opened it with a swift clicking sound. One look at it's contents, and he let out a loud curse. "_Fuck!_" The driver jumped slightly, but decided against saying anything. The man in the back seat held a card in his trembling hands, face pale. What was his boss going to do with him now?!

_Thank you for playing with Sagi._

Several blocks away, and orange-clad child griped several thick folders in his tiny hands, his cherub-like face alight with a large, cheeky grin of complete glee. He slipped his prize into a simple, black drawstring back and hugged it to his chest. "Not funner like Sagi's other games." He sighed. "But Sagi still has a good time."

Orange eyes twinkled mischievously, and the small, baby-talk was dropped, if only for a second. "The game is always fun, no matter who Sagi plays it with."

**(You'll never be able to get away.)**

"Hello, Nono." A tall man in a expensive looking Italian suit spoke, stepping into a darkened room. A few feet away, the lone light source, a lap, was directed at the desk in the middle of the space, the man sitting behind it pouring over some important looking documents. At the other's voice, he looked up and gave a tired smile. "Hello, Iemitsu."

"How are things?" Iemitsu asked worriedly, the line between his brows deepening.

Timoteo pinched the bridge of his nose and sat back, blinking the dots out of his eyes. "Not too well, sadly. Without the Sky Ring, the Vongola's situation will only get worse and worse."

"And the hired help?" The CEDEF head sat down in a chair across from the Ninth, who shook his head.

"No," he let out a frustrated sigh. "They got nothing. Said it got to difficult, and they've all backed out."

"Perhaps we need to find someone of...a higher caliber?"

Nono eyed him cautiously. "I suppose. So far, we've only hired petty thieves and grouped them up with a professional or two. Are you thinking of hiring a phantom thief?" Phantom thieves were notorious for their exceptional skills, and were often considered the highest ranking thieves in the world. They came in rather large numbers—though, it was said that the harder it was to find and hire them, the better they were at their job.

Iemitsu leaned forward, frowning slightly. "I suppose. What's the harm? We need the Sky Ring. Badly, judging by your posture, and the amount of stress you've been under, lately. A phantom thief would have a higher chance of getting it to us, perhaps faster than your run-of-the-mill thieves."

Timoteo rested his elbows on the table, pressing his fingers together. "Who do you have in mind?"

"Why not..." Iemitsu raised an eyebrow. "Sagi?"

Nono snorted in disbelief. "Honestly? We have absolutely _no way_ of getting in contact with a master of Sagi's level. In fact, no one does!" He laughed. "That idea... It's so absurd.. So irrational that... that..."

"It just might work, right?" Iemitsu smiled good-naturally.

"Yeah," Nono sighed, and slumped back in his chair. "But... it poses the question..." he looked up again and sent his close friend a searching look. How on earth do you plan to get a hold of _Sagi_?"

Iemitsu's smirk faded. "I... u-um... I'm working on that."

Timoteo sat back in his chair. "...Let's give it three weeks or so. Then, if we get nothing, we'll go back to the method we've been using before."

Iemitsu nodded. "Right. I'll send out some notices." He gave the other man a wry smile, and handed over the glass of wine he'd brought in with him. "Here's to hoping."

Nono laughed, grabbing the glass and giving a toast. "Indeed!"

**(Because that is what he is...)**

Iemitsu was walking down the corridor of the Vongola HQ, heading toward the cafeteria for lunch. Once he got there, the chef gave him a friendly wave. He spotted a large group of his other subordinates sitting at a table two spaces away from the door. He nodded toward the chef and sat down next to his friend Basil. The blond looked up and beamed at him. "Iemitsu-dono! How has thy morning treated you?"

Iemitsu smiled. "My day has been busy, Basil-san. And yours?"

Basil went back to his food with a blush, and the others at the table grinned. "He fell into the channel again this morning after breakfast." Fon laughed. The arcobaleno sat across from him, enjoying a plate of fried fish.

The head of the Sawada family chuckled. "How unfortunate." He was about to continue when the head chef, an old friend of his, called out to him over the loud din of the canteen. "Iemitsu-san! This was left for you, sir!"

The large man in a white apron waved a folded piece of paper in the air, before running over and handing it to the tall blond man. Iemitsu took the paper. "Wonder who it's from..." the other's nearby looked on in curiosity. The blond haired head of the CEDEF unfolded the paper, and read it's contents. He paled dramatically.

"I-Iemitsu-dono...?" Basil started uncertainly.

"What does it say, Iemitsu-san?" Lal Mirch frowned worriedly.

Iemitsu looked up to find that half of the cafeteria was looking over at him, and the other half was doing a great job of concealing their curiosity—he'd have to commend them later... He took a deep breath and looked back at the note in his hands.

"_Dear Sawada-san,_

_Sagi heard that you had a job to do. Something is missing, right?_

_It's something that the Nono wants very, very badly._

_It sounds like a fun game to play. If you can find Sagi, Sagi will help you!_

_Sagi will be somewhere in Italy tomorrow, waiting at a hotel. Maybe Sagi will stay for a few days._

_^ ^ Sagi has always wanted to meet the hitman, Reborn._

_Sagi will see you soon, if you want to play with him!_

_From,_

_Sagi"_

The entire cafeteria was completely silent as everyone took in that information. Fon was the first to speak up. "Look like this Sagi lives up to his nickname, then."

Iemitsu looked over at him. "Nickname?"

The arcobaleno nodded. "They call him many names, actually. The most widely known ones, though, are "_Inosento Azamuku_," or "Innocent Deceiver," "_Colui Che Non C'è_," or "The One Who Isn't There.""

The others looked over as well. Other lunch groups were wandering over to get a peak at the note from the notorious _Sagi_. "What's the story behind those?" Iemitsu wondered.

Fon dived into recital mode. "Well, only two of his victims have been able to sight _something_ of him, and they kept going on about wide, glowing eyes that looked so completely innocent that they couldn't wrap their minds around what was happening. Oh, and laughter."

"Laughter?" Basil shuddered, and Fon nodded. "Yes. Once, Sagi was cornered in an alley by his twenty-fourth target, a man named Nanami Kasumi. When Nanami tried grabbing him, Sagi wasn't there."

"What's that got to do with Iemitsu getting a note, though?" The chef, Shigeko, asked, looking confused.

"Well, where did you find the note?"

"It...ah, it was taped to the place where we put customers' orders so that the chefs know who wants what..."

"And how did it get there?" Iemitsu frowned, puzzled.

Shigeko blinked. "A-Ah..."

Basil's eyes widened comically, "Sagi."

"Exactly." Fon said. "Then, there's the note itself. He worded it so that we'd unconsciously believe that sending Reborn to give him the job's information was a condition of hiring him." Reborn was pretty famous, even outside of the Vongola. He was one of the only arcobaleno to break his own curse. No one knows how he did it—not even him.

"What's with the whole "game" and "play with me," though?" Lal asked.

"Sagi is viewed by many as a faceless thief with an extreme child's personality. His calling cards speak of "playing a game," and he refers to his jobs as said "games.""

"...But, the Nono isn't missing anything, is he?" Basil frowned.

"Th-that's what makes me so worried about Sagi's knowledge. No one but the Nono, myself, and the hired thieves under our wing know about the stolen..." Iemitsu swallowed. "I suppose it doesn't matter now. Nono's Sky Ring has been stolen."

The other's gaped, and Fon raised an eyebrow. "When did this happen?"

"A few weeks ago, or so." Iemitsu waved the note in front of their faces. "I need to go tell Nono of this new development. It's weird, we were just speaking of trying to get a hold of Sagi to hire him for the job..." he shook his head and dashed out of the canteen, the others staring after him. One line of Sagi's note kept running through their heads.

"_Sagi will see you soon, if you want to play with him!"_

**(He'll latch onto your mind. And never let go)**

* * *

_**I feel bad, now. My brain, why can't it just stop, or even slow down? Nope~ Instead, I suffer from an influx of new fic ideas every single day, and they won't leave me alone! *wails* I'm sorry, my dear readers! I-I'll try my best to pay attention to my existing stories! I-If you're mad, I understand. But please, blame the brain. Blame it all on my damnable imagination. IT WON'T FREAKING LEAVE ME ALONE! GYAAAAAH!**_

_***cough* Right then. Let's just make one thing clear in this fic: Sagi = Tsuna. That's all there is too it. How this came to be, well, you're gonna have to read and find out. When, you know, I post the chapters ^ ^'**_

_**Thhannks, and REVIEW~**_

_**~Scylar X.**_


	2. Mr Gun-Lizard

_**-Left Us Falling-**_

_**~ Little Mr. Gun-Lizard ~**_

"_Listen."_

"_No."_

"_Listen."_

"_No."_

"_Listen."_

"_No."_

"_Listen."_

"_Why?"_

"_List— ..."_

"_..."_

_The wind was blowing very hard that day._

Reborn eyes the note suspiciously. "How can you be certain this is from _Sagi_?" He asked.

"We can't. But that's why we're sending _you_."

His day had been pretty normal. He'd woken up early, as usual, and went straight to the coffee shop for an espresso. Okay, no, that wasn't true. That was lie. A terrible, terrible white lie. He'd gotten dressed first. _Then_ he'd gone to the coffee shop. Really, he shouldn't have to explain these things, you people should just roll with it. He's Reborn Chaos, greatest hitman in the world. He shouldn't have to explain anything.

Right. Back to the story. Anyway, he'd gotten his coffee and then the morning had become so much ore bearable. Then, he'd received at least one call, text, email and/or voicemail from each of the remaining arcobaleno—this was becoming routine, see—who all wanted to know if he could remember how he'd broken the curse. The first was always that blasted scientist, but the others always followed soon after. He'd lost count of how many time that he'd told them, but he _didn't remember_ how it happened. One day, he woke up, and he was an adult. There, see? Very anticlimactic, easy to believe, nothing really happened, but _no_, they just wouldn't fucking leave him alone.

Sorry. That's right—normal morning, he should be over this by now...

But _then_, he gets called in by the Nono, right _in the middle_ of a job. He had to just go up and shoot that damnable target with Leon, instead of doing what he'd planned _all week_ to do—it would've gotten rid of a lot of stress, really. Plus, now he'd made a huge _mess_.

Now, he was sitting in a chair, in the Vongola's Boss's office, staring down at a note, from the greatest phantom thief the underworld had seen, ever, that he'd been called to check out, which may or may not have been a forgery. So please, excuse him if he was a little pissed off. On the inside, of course, because Reborn just rolls like that. But yeah, he was pissed. But only a bit... Truly.

"But what about—"

"We trust you can take care of yourself?"

He snorted in disbelief. What kind of question was that? "Of course, bu—"

"Then you should have no problem with this."

"Nono, I—"

"Good luck~"

The door closed before he could even say anything, and Reborn hissed out a curse. "_Dammit_."

**(Don't look too hard~)**

The child sat on the bench, feet dangling off the edge, far above the ground. His white trainers were untied, the shoelaces rubbing up against the gravel. His orange hood shadowed his face, which was staring at the ground. Altogether, he looked a bit put out.

"Hey, little buddy." A shadow fell over him, and the tiny boy looked up slightly to see a man in a suit crouching before him. The boy caught a fleeting sense of deja-vu, and wanted to giggle, but held back his smile, putting on a pout. "Daijoubu desu ka?"*

"Daijoubu desu!" The child brightened. "Do you need something, mister?"

"I just wanted to know why you were sitting out here all by yourself, buddy." The friendly black haired business man said. They were just outside of an expensive looking hotel, one that the child knew was used to dealing with the mafia, so the staff were told not to question any strange happenings. He also knew that the man he was talking to did not know this.

"Otou-san said he was busy with meeting lots a people." The child explained, bowing his head down again to stair at his shoes. He reached out a and to tap a black suitcase that was just barely more than half his size. "Otou-san said to go to hotel we staying at and wait, but..." Here, he bit his pale-pink lip. "U-um..." He shook his head, appearing to have trouble getting the next word out. Eventually, he just pointed to himself. "Too scared to talk to front desk lady..."

The stuttering helped, but another thing the man did not know was that the child had always had problems with talking out of the third person. The reasons were unknown, perhaps due to trauma. Not that anyone knew enough to guess that.

"Oh! Why don't you come in with me?" The man offered. "I can take you up to your room, I'm staying here, too."

The child raised his head, then let t down again and pointed at his white trainers. "Can't. Oka-san say not to walk when shoes not tied."

The man smiled, then leaned over and began tying the laces together. After a while, he leaned back. "There. Better?"

The child cheered a little. "Yay! Arigato, mister!" The child hopped off of the bench and the man helped him carry the black suitcase inside the hotel's entrance. After talking with the woman at the front desk for a minute or so, then man looked down at the child, who was holding onto his hand tightly, and asked, "Do you know your Oto-san's room number, buddy?"

"Number?" The child titled his head, then nodded enthusiastically. "Hai! It number..." He hummed. "Number 237."

The man turned back to the woman, then knelt down and handed the child a white plastic key card. "There you go. Buddy. Do you need help getting there?"

The child giggled again, shaking his head. "Iie, iie, Oji-san." The man blushed slightly at the nickname. "Oka-san say not to ask too much." He struggled for a seconds, but then pointed at himself quickly to make up for the seemingly lost sentence. "Can do it on own, ne?"

The man smiled. "well, that's on the fifth floor. Why don't you use that elevator over there?" He pointed.

"Hai, hai." The child rolled the suitcase through the opening doors of the elevator that was across the room, then turned and waved at the man, the white key card clenched in his tiny fist. "Ja ne, Oji-san!"

The man vaguely heard the young woman behind the counter sigh. "Desu, desu~" He smiled and waved back, happy to help such an adorable little kid.

As the elevator doors slid open, silently welcoming the child to the desolate fifth floor western corridor, the tiny boy smiled. "Sagi is so smart~" He cooed in an almost silent whisper, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the business man's ID. "Sagi is traveling with _Oji-san_, now, so Sagi can go anywhere he wants very easier than before." He felt extremely relieved now that he didn't have to try to use the word "I" to refer to himself. It was so hard! How did everyone else do it? He pouted slightly. "Sagi can't say like _that_."

He turned, then saw the door to his left. On it, scrawled in elegant gold metal script, was the number "237."

"Sagi's room." He whispered.

Standing on his toes, he slid the white key card that _Oji-san_ had gotten him, and pushed the door open smoothly. _Oji-san is so good to Sagi._ He thought happily.

He pushed the black suitcase in front of him until he reached the bed. Leaving the case behind on the floor, he jumped onto the soft comforter, much more agile than a child his age should be able to. Grinning like the Cheshire Cat, he cast his eyes over the the shadow in the corner. "Konichiwa, Mr. Reborn. Sagi's so happy to meet you now."

**(Or, your eyes will begin to _deceive_ you.)**

Reborn stared. _You have got to be kidding..._

Sagi, master phantom thief _was _a child. And not just in the way the rumors said. An actual, not even three-foot-tall, living, breathing, tiny little _child_.

Only one thought crossed his mind, as he stepped out of the corner and into the light, still staring with slightly widened eyes at the small, yet lithe, figure on the bed.

"...I owe Fon twenty dollars."

Another surprise. The child—_Sagi_, apparently—nodded in agreement. "Hai. Sagi claim ten percent of the winnings because the bet was about Sagi~"

Reborn was silent, then he sighed, shrugging. He walked forward and sat on the dark red-sheeted queen-sized bed, pulling out his wallet. _Might has well indulge_. He thought as he handed over two dollars to the tiny outstretched hand. He was still mulling over how very small the "_Inosento Azamuku_" was. It was pretty far fetched that this child was actually _the_ Sagi, but really, how hard was it to believe? After, all, there was the Gokudera boy, playing that piano like he was some sort of prodigious pro back at the Vongola. And the kid's sister was a specialist in poison. Not to mention the arcobaleno, but they didn't really count. ...But honestly, a master phantom thief; one of _the_ best...?

Sagi grabbed the two green slips of paper and stuck them in the pocket of his seriously bright orange jacket. The tiny hands went in, and then came out again, this time holding a card...

Reborn recognized the picture of the man who'd he'd seen walking into the hotel with this kid. "Did..." No, he hadn't, right?

"Sagi borrowed this shiny card fro Oji-san." Reborn heard the child say nonchalantly, as if walking around and taking important business mens' IDs was an everyday occurrence for him. But who knows, it probably was. Reborn, even with who he was—cuz he was _Reborn_, c'mon!—was still trying to wrap his mind around that idea.

"But... why do you need it?" He asked, for he was truly curious as to the reason for the identity theft.

The child pursed his pale pink lips. "Sagi needs way to travel. Sagi is running out of money from his last game, so Sagi needs Oji-san's help." He gave a cheeky smile and waved the ID in the air. "Sagi's traveling with Oji-san now, so no one will question Sagi."

Reborn blinked. That was... smart, actually... The hitman laid back on the bed, sprawled out next to Sagi, who was still kneeling on the covers with that large, innocent grin of his. "How old are you, Sagi?"

Sagi pulled out his feet from under him and brought his knees to his chest. "Sagi doesn't know, Mr. Reborn. Sagi doesn't remember when his birthday is, but Sagi thinks that he is five or six years old." He tilted his head. "How old is Mr. Reborn?"

Reborn tilted his fedora downwards. For some reason, he enjoyed talking to this kid. The child was pretty good company, even if he was a little messed up in the head. "I'm twenty-five."

"How old is your gun-lizard?"

Reborn blinked. Gun-lizard? "Who do you mean?"

Sagi stood up on the bed and reached over, tugging on Reborn fedora. Almost a second later, something scaly and green came tumbling down. "Leon!"

Sagi grinned again. "Gun lizard can turn into anything." He stated. Leon slithered up and peered at Sagi with squinted eyes. Sagi smiled down at him. "Konichiwa~ Little Mr. Gun-Lizard. Will you play with me?"

That sentence sent a small jolt of some emotion through Reborn, but he couldn't put a finger on it. How was he suppose to know what Sagi meant by that? Its not like he'd ever met Sagi before—even though _everyone_ knew that Sagi always spoke of games.

"_Will you play with me, Little Mr. Hitman?"_

He shook his head, and the small, sweet voice left him alone again. What was up with that? He looked over to see Sagi lying back on the bed, his arms in the air, holding Leon and looking at him from every angel he could get. The chameleon didn't seem to mind; Leon's eyes were narrowed and he probably would have been purring if he'd been a cat, Reborn knew somehow. Another question popped up. "Hey, Sagi, where are your parents?"

Sagi stilled. The child was quiet for a moment, before sitting up and hugging Leon to his chest. "They not here." He said cheerfully.

Reborn decided to just leave it be. For now.

The world famous hitman shook his head and looked back down again, attempting to get back in character. "Alright. Lets go. The Nono needs to give you the job. Then we can both be on our way." Only for Sagi to work around that marvelously.

The child smirked as knowingly as a six-year-old could. "Iie, Mr. Reborn. The Nono sent _you_ to give Sagi the rules of the game. Not to pick Sagi up and take him to Vongola."

Reborn sank down a bit with a sigh, the duvet pressing into his back. He could feel the cool temperature of the just-made bed through his suit. "Yes, that's correct."

"But..." Sagi laid down again and held Leon above his head. "Sagi will go with Mr. Reborn to the Vongola, because Sagi is very bored now. Nothing happens a lot." Reborn blinked. For some reason, he had a feeling that the word "nothing" had somewhat of a different meaning to Sagi.

"Really now? Well, then, let's—"

"So Sagi will sleep here tonight, with Mr. Gun-Lizard~"

"Wh-What?" That caught him off guard. Sagi wanted them to stay here? "Why not go now? Wouldn't it save time?" He shook his head. He was trying to reason with a six-year-old. A master phantom thief, but still a toddler...

Sagi eyed him with twinkling orange eyes. Reborn still hadn't seen under his hood. "There is no need to rush the game, Mr. Reborn. Otherwise Sagi won't have any fun~"

Reborn felt a slight shiver run down his spine, and he ignored it by stretched leisurely out on the bed. "Right, then. Have it your way."

It was silent for a while, until Reborn frowned and sat up again. He vaguely heard the ticking of a clock somewhere, and there was absolutely no noise aside from the breathing of the room's three occupants. He looked over and saw Leon curled up, asleep, in Sagi's lap. Reborn knew he could trust Sagi somewhat, now, if his little green friend respected him like _this_. Sagi was sitting on the covers, still, semi-curled around the small chameleon, face tilted downward, like he was staring at the design embroidered on the cloth. But what made Reborn do a double take was the fact that Sagi's face held no expression.

Reborn had never seen Sagi not smiling. Sure, he'd only known the kid for about, oh, three hours, more or less, but Sagi always had a smile, or a grin, or a childish smirk of glee on his face. For some reason, not seeing that hurt. "Chaos, Sagi. Daijoubu desu ka?"

"Daijoubu desu." Sagi responded immediately, most likely not registering that he'd spoken at all. Reborn noticed. "Sagi-kun, daijoubu nan desu ka?"*

Sagi looked up, blinking. "Hai. Sagi is alright. Why does Mr. Reborn ask?"

Reborn stared at him. "Sagi-kun~ Why are you lying just now?"

Sagi looked down at the blankets again. "Sagi is not lying, because Sagi is always perfectly okay. But Sagi isn't able to sleep when Sagi is alone. That is why Sagi and Mr. Reborn and Mr. Gun-Lizard need to stay here tonight."

"...Then...every night? Who do you stay with, Sagi-kun?"

"Sagi stays with different people. People like Sagi a lot. Sagi is "cute," and "adorable," they say." Sagi continued to stare at the comforter. "Sometimes Sagi just doesn't sleep, though. Sagi's used to not sleeping."

Reborn thought to himself for a moment or two, then reached out and touched Sagi's shoulder. The tiny child jolted, and looked up at him. Reborn saw two, wide, innocent orange eyes staring him in the face. "Sagi, you can stay with me, ne?"

Sagi blinked. "...Sagi would like to stay with Mr. Reborn very much. Sagi's always admired Mr. Reborn a lot. Mr. Reborn is so strong. Mr. Reborn can do anything." He smiled then, and Reborn felt the strange feeling leave his chest—but his cheeks were tinged pink from the compliments.

"You seem to have a bit too much faith in me..."

Sagi shook his head. "Sagi knows."

Reborn took back his hand and laid down again, hands braced behind his head. He stared at the ceiling, thinking. After a minute or so, he heard Sagi shuffle around for a moment, before feeling the child climb under the blankets. Soon, Sagi was breathing deeply, asleep. He looked over and say the orange hood pulled over the child's eyes, and the tiny arms hugging the sleeping Leon to Sagi's chest. He looked back up at the ceiling, shaking is head as he kicked off his shoes. He definitely hadn't expected this to happen.

**(Nothing is as it seems.)**

_This chapter is dedicated to Elliona1_

_***Daijoubu desu ka—means "Are you okay?"**_

_***Daijoubu desu—means "I'm okay!"**_

_***Daijoubu nan desu ka—means "Are you okay?" with more urgency.**_

_***Oka-san—means "mom"**_

_***Otou-san—means "dad"**_

_***Oji-san—means "uncle"**_

—"_**Hai" is an affirmative—**_

—"_**Iie" means "no"—**_

—"_**Sagi" is a Japanese word, roughly translated as "deceit"— **_

_**(If anyone has any other questions—that don't have something to do with the future of the plot, cuz that'd be telling~—please ask them in your review, or PM me)**_

_**I'll most likely be writing about hoe Sagi is Tsuna in a chapter or two. Not sure. But I will, so just be patient, please ^ ^**_

_**Wow! I only posted this a day ago, and it's already gotten 14 reviews! Success~ And the favorites—man, you guys are so good to me XD**_

_**The followers... So many for the first chapter—does this mean I have minions now? Since you're all following me... *plots world domination scheme***_

_**Anyway, I'll be updating as long as you guys keep reviewing! The next chapter will come when the review count numbers at.. Hm, 26~**_

_**Thanks so much, you guys! I have the best readers ever!**_

_**~Scylar X.**_


	3. Discovery of the Kitty

_**-Left Us falling-**_

_**~Sagi Found a Kitty, Mr. Reborn~**_

"_Party people in da house—untz-untz-untz—"_

_Her eye twitched. "Goddammit, shouldn't everybody know by now?!" She picked it up._

"_This is my friend's phone. Sorry to break the news, but he's **dead**."_

"_Last week, you missed the service."_

"_A shame?" She raised an eyebrow. "Well, what was he doing with his life anyway?"_

"_Yeah, sorry for your loss, **don't** call again." She hung up with a huff._

_A strangled noise sounded from behind her. She turned to see him staring at her in shock._

"_**OH MY GOD!** How long have you been **doing** that?!"_

_She glared at him. "I **told** you to change that annoying **ringtone**!"_

_He didn't talk to her for a whole week after that._

Reborn woke up not knowing where he was. That was okay, he was used to that, but what made him do a double-take was the fact that there was something tiny, warm, and breathing was curled up against his side, and it wasn't Leon.

Okay, that wasn't true. It was Leon, too, but Leon was cuddling up to the tiny form in the orange cotton jacket that he had an arm wrapped around. He looked down and blinked. "Sagi?"

The child stirred, and orange eyes that matched his sweatshirt looked up blearily at him. "Sagi is here." The little thief yawned sleepily.

Reborn sat up, bringing Sagi up along with him. The five-year-old nuzzled into the crook of his neck, making a small noise of content as her wrapped his orange-clad arms around the hitman's neck. Reborn sweat-dropped. _How did I, the greatest hitman in the world, end up on baby-sitting duty?_

He shook his head and sighed, standing, Sagi curled up in his arms. Leon woke, and hopped up from his place somewhere in Sagi's hood—which was _still_ on the toddler's head, shadowing his face—and made himself snug on the brim of Reborn's fedora. Reborn felt himself feel slightly more at ease with one thing familiar.

He looked around and sighed. "Sagi, will you go to the Vongola with me now?"

"Mhm." The child murmured. "Sagi is tired. Mr. Reborn will take Sagi and Mr. Gun-Lizard to Vongola while Sagi sleeps, ne?"

Reborn bit back a low groan. "...Hai." Really, what else was he suppose to say? He'd never met any kid like Sagi before. He didn't know how to deal with this.

He bent down by the side of the bed, one arm holding the sleeping phantom thief tightly to his chest, and felt for the black suitcase Sagi had brought with him. He frowned. "Sagi, what's in this suitcase, anyway?"

"Sagi's toys." You could literally hear the sleepy smirk that stretched across the vaguely-conscious child's face.

Reborn decided not to open the suitcase. He grabbed the key card Sagi had gotten from his "Oji-san," and headed out of the room.

The elevator made a sharp dinging sound as the doors scrolled open to reveal the lobby ground floor. He headed toward the front desk, trying not to smirk at the half surprised looks from strangers, and the shocked looks from those he knew. Of course. A hot, sexy Italian rich man walking through an extremely expensive hotel carrying a five-year-old sleeping child in his arms was a sight to see. But, a hot, sexy, world-famous Italian hitman walking through a mafia-established top-class hotel carrying a sleeping child in his arms was something else all together.

He caught sight of Sagi's "oji-san" as he sidled up to the front desk. The man smiled at him as the two waited for the secretary to come out of the office. Reborn figured that the other man had finished freaking out about his missing ID the night before. That, or he hadn't noticed it's absence, yet.

"So he's yours?" The man asked.

Reborn tried his best not to break down in evil cackles right then and there, and plastered a small, kind smile on his face. Heh, yeah. "Hai, hai. And you are?"

"Richard Stemptson." Reborn shook his hand. "I helped your little one last evening. He was sitting outside the hotel looking a bit lost, with a suitcase. That one," Richard pointed to the case Reborn had at his feet. "Said he was scared to talk to the secretary. You were in a meeting with "lots of important people.""

Reborn grinned, trying not to smirk. Sagi had thought things through. Truly a smart little toddler. "Arigato for taking care of him. I don't know what I would do if he'd been taken."

Richard smiled kindly. "Not a problem. Hey, he's waking."

Indeed, he was. Sagi looked up from Reborn's shoulder, and blinked sleepily at the man across form them. "Nghn..." The child brightened up. "Oji-san!"

Richard smiled sheepishly at Reborn. "Yeah., he gave me that nickname. Don't know why..."

Reborn smirked _good-naturally_. "Hai," he said, thinking quickly. "My Torikkā is very friendly, especially with people who treat him kindly. Isn't that right, Tori-kun?"*

Sagi caught on extremely fast. "Un," The child yawned. "Oji-san is so nice to Tori."*

Richard shook his head, smiling tiredly. "I'm happy that you're alright. Did you have any trouble getting to your room?"

"Tori" shook his head. "Nā." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. Richard's eyes widened. "Oji-san dropped this, Tori thinks. Tori didn't know what shiny card was. It had Oji-san's picture on it, so Tori knew it must belong to Oji-san."*

Richard's eyes almost sparkled as her grabbed the card, looking it over. He sighed in relief and gave Sagi an enormous grin. "Thank you so much—Ah, Arigato, Tori-kun." The American gave a slight bow, seeming to understand that both were using Japanese tradition with him, and decided to return the favor. Sagi giggled, nodding. "Tori is glad that Oji-san is happy."

Reborn observed all of this with a slightly raised brow, but decided not to comment and ask Sagi about it later. He cast an amused look to Richard. "You might want to keep a better eye on that. Wouldn't want it _stolen_."

Richards shoulders slumped, and he cast Reborn a grin. "Yeah. I barely got any sleep last night when I noticed it was gone. Arigato once again, Tori-kun!"

Sagi waved as the man walked away, having checked out before the two had come down. Reborn smiled at the secretary, and handed her back the key cars to room 237. "No records." He told her. She nodded, knowing of the mafia already due to her position on the staff—and of course, everyone should listen to Reborn, the world's greatest hitman.

Reborn walked out of the hotel. The ride he'd just called, a black sedan, immediately pulled up the second his foot hit the pavement outside. He smiled—he really liked the mafia's precision. Opening the door, he swung the black suitcase onto the seat on the far side before climbing in himself and pulling the door close. The car sped off across town the moment his seat-belt clicked.

Halfway there, Sagi woke up entirely, and he was now sitting in the seat next to Reborn, suitcase on the floor, holding Leon in his hands once more. Reborn, for some reason, felt at ease when Sagi had Leon, unlike how he was when other people handled the shape-shifting chameleon. He felt like he could trust Sagi with his life, he felt as if he'd already done such a thing, but he couldn't figure out _why_! It frustrated him to no end. He was Reborn Chaos, the world's greatest Hitman, the only arcobaleno who had broken out of the infantry spell. He wasn't suppose to feel so uncertain about things like this.

"Sagi's a bit nervous, Mr. Reborn." The child to his left states conversationally. Reborn eyes him skeptically. The kid looked anything _but_ what he claimed to be. "Are you sure?"

Sagi nodded enthusiastically, giving him a cheeky smile. "Hai. Sagi is _very_ smart, Mr. Reborn, but Sagi does not know the layout of the Vongola base except the kitchen and food room. Sagi gets a little nervous when he doesn't know the rules of the game."

Reborn decided to ignore the whole "game" metaphor Sagi's world seemed to be centered around, and focused on the important part. "Wait, kitchens? Food room—cafeteria?"

Sagi grinned and giggled at him. "You're funny, Mr. Reborn~ Of course, Sagi had to give Sawada-san the note before the game could start."

Reborn stared at him. "So, you were already in the Vongola base? Why didn't you just stay! It would have saved us a lot more time, maybe even a whole day or two—!"

Nuh-uh-uh, Mr. Reborn!" Sagi cried, waving a finger at the much older man as if he'd been misbehaving. "We can't rush the game, or Sagi won't have fun. And Sagi couldn't stay at the Vongola HQ, because that would be against the rules of the game."

"_What_ game?"

But Sagi just gave him a cheeky smile and held that tiny little finger to his pale pink lips. Reborn resisted the very strong urge to scoff and turned to make an attempt to see out of the blacked out windows—a mission he knew was futile, but it seemed much more progressive than talking to the young little thief sitting next to him.

Soon, they arrived at the "power plant." Well, that's what it looked like on the outside. Of course, the inside was an entirely different story. The driver stopped at the toll-gate-like entrance and showed the gun-toting guards his ID. Soon, the sedan was driving down to the building that served at the "lobby" for guests and such.

Reborn knew that, when they entered, things would get crazy. He tried not to think about it too much.

**(Make a wish~)**

Dino thought it was just suppose to be another job. Seriously, you'd give Reborn Chaos a job, he'd disappear for a day or two, then he'd come back, and the job would be complete. That's just how it rolled. So when he heard that Reborn was coming back that day from somewhere, he thought nothing of it, but didn't understand why Iemitsu and the Nono were so anxious. Okay, so, sure, the Vongola Sky Ring was super important and all, but what was the big deal? It's not like _Reborn_ was getting it back. Reborn was a hitman, not a thief.

So when Reborn walked into the "Lobby" while Dino was getting his coffee, he passed it up as a usual thing. But, when Reborn walked into the "Lobby" holding the hand of a tiny little child, _that's_ what made him stare along with everybody else.

**(It might come true,)**

Reborn smirked silently as he made his way across the hall, Sagi trailing behind him. The little thief was casting discrete looks around the room, noting possible exits. Reborn felt a little strange at that—no kid this age should be so cautious. But, hey, it wasn't his problem.

"Reborn?" A voice asked, sounding on the verge of hysterical. Reborn held in a laugh as he looked up to see Iemitsu and the Nono walking in his direction. They'd slowed down at the sight of Sagi who was no preoccupied with something having to do with his suitcase. "Who is that?"

Reborn almost wanted to walk away, right then and there. "This is Sagi, Nono."

The entire room was deathly silent, and Reborn wanted to laugh when Sagi decided that this was an appropriate time to be oblivious to the atmosphere. Nono and Iemitsu, and everyone else, were staring at him, then Sagi, then him, then Sagi, then back at him, then Sagi again, until, finally, Nono decided to speak.

"Eto... Eh, Reborn." He started slowly, and Reborn wanted to face palm. These people were idiots. Yeah, sure, Sagi was such a tiny little kid, but you had to take everything into perspective and view it all as a thereat before you could pass it off as nothing. "That's a five-year-old."

"A five year old phantom thief, yes." Reborn drawled, trying not to smirk. He almost didn't want to blame them, he sure sounded as if he'd lost it.

The were quiet again, until Iemitsu tried his turn. "...He's way to young to be..."

"He's him."

The blond swallowed, then took a small step back. Dino came over, peering into Reborn's eyes. "_That's _ Sagi?" He asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Yep."

"Reborn, he's, like, not even five! How can—?!"

Nono joined in again. "I just don't think I can believe that what you claim is really true, Reborn, you—"

"So tiny," Iemitsu added in his two cents. "Do you really expect us to believe—"

Others came over and stared at him as if he'd finally lost it, joining in. "Reborn, surely you must be mistaken—"

"I admire your skill as a hitman, but this is just inconceivable—"

"—How can you bring such a cute and breakable thing like that into a mafia base?! He'll be eaten alive!"

"Mr. Reborn, Sagi found a lion~"

They all paused, Reborn looked up from his position of staring at the floor with a large smirk, and frowned slightly. He turned slowly to see that, indeed, Sagi had a lion. A little cub that had flames alight in it's ears.

"Th-that's—" Nono stuttered.

"_Natsu_?!" Iemitsu's eyes widened. Both he, Nono, and everyone else turned to look at the Nono's fingers to see that, yes, Natsu was gone. And he wasn't in ring form any more. They all turned back to look at Sagi.

Reborn started. "How—" Sagi turned to him with a cheeky grin, and he broke off his question abruptly. He brought his gloved hands up and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "No. Nope. Not going to ask."

Sagi giggled, and everyone viewed him a tidbit apprehensively. Reborn understood, the kid sounded just a tad hysterical.

Natsu purred softly, and Sagi went back to rubbing at the feline's belly. "Nice Mr. Fire-Lion. Will you play with Sagi?"

If that didn't seal the deal for everyone in that room right then and there, what happened next surely did.

"Where is it?!" Verde came galloping into the room, hair a total mess and eyes wide with an insane glint. Reborn moved slightly in front of Sagi, who didn't even move.

"Where's what?" Nono asked hesitantly.

The scientist glared at them all. "_Where is my newest model?!_"

Iemitsu held up his hands, trying to calm the arcobaleno down. "Verde, we don't know what you're talking about. Mind letting us in on it?"

The scientist's eye twitched. "A laser. An extremely powerful laser than could wipe out the entire continent of Australia with three hits in the correct places. A highly dangerous _weapon of war._ And it's _missing_."

Everyone paled, and Reborn raised an eyebrow. "And, pray tell, why, exactly, were you making such a thing?"

Verde almost wailed. "_I just wanted to see if I could!_ I was gonna take it apart and destroy the blueprints after wards, but now it's _gone_!"

"You mean the shiny snake?" Sagi asked innocently. Verde immediately zeroed in on him, narrowing his eyes and asking in a calm monotone that contrasted to his earlier behavior immensely. "Who are you?"

"Sagi has a shiny snake too~" The tiny little thief ignored the question, and reached a hand into his black suitcase to pull out a long, metallic sectioned tube. He started to walk away from the case, dragging the tube alone with him. Everyone watched with wide eyes as the tube emerged from the suitcase, and kept coming, and coming., and coming. Reborn was now able to greatly appreciate how very _bottomless_ that suitcase was. How did the kid fit it all _in_?

Eventually, it seemed as if a mile of the large tube was out, and Sagi ran back to the suitcase to pull out the end of it, which was attached to something that looked like a very advanced computer monitor.

Verde was hyperventilating, while everyone else besides Reborn was looking at Sagi in complete and utter shock. Nono turned to the hitman and asked weakly. "How'd he do that?"

Reborn was surprised to find that he was, well, surprised—but he hid it extremely well. "I really have no idea. The kid kept on stealing my wallet on the way here because he was bored with playing with Leon." Everyone, with some difficulty, managed to turn their attention to him. "You let him play with Leon?" Verde asked skeptically, while running a hand lovingly along the metallic tube of his world domination laser contraption.

"Not really. Leon kind of just took a liking to him." As if he'd been sent a cue, Leon leaped off of his place on the brim of Reborn's fedora—where everyone knew that he always was, without a doubt, when not in use by Reborn, and joined Natsu in cuddling up to the orange-clad toddler on the floor.

Nono took a deep breath. "R-Right then. R-Reborn, come along, and bring...Sagi. I still need to give him...the job." He still looked a bit uncertain.

Reborn smirked. Things were about to change, drastically, for the Vongola. And the mafia world as a whole, it seemed.

**(If you blackmail the right people.)**

***Torikkā—means "tricker"**

***Un—means "yeah"**

***Nā—means "nah"**

_**^ ^' I apologize if this chapter disappointed you. I would've finished it hours ago, but my older sister forced me to go to sleep—I hadn't slept for two days, and I was exhausted. I still am, actually. I could barely keep my eyes open, and I think the fact that I kept insisting to finish the chapter before sleeping annoyed her—but I promised you guys you'd have another chapter once the reviews hit 26, and I try to stick by my promises ^ ^**_

_**Speaking of reviews, wow guys! It seems this story is very popular! I can't believe how many reviews it's gotten, and it's only been up for a day or two! 31 reviews! Man, your guys are all amazing! And what's even better, is that every review was positive, and supportive of the idea! You guys like it that much? **_

_**Anyway, my day's been pretty terrible. I didn't sleep a wink last night due to computer use(I believe it's called an addiction XD Not sure) and when I went to go make myself lunch, I found that the milk jug I'd put in there this morning had a leak. I spent over an hour cleaning out the entire bottom half of the fridge, since it was running rivers and growing lakes of milk. T^T I think there's still some frozen milk dripping line in the back wall of the freezer.**_

_**After that, I made myself a protein shake, feeling to miserable to make lunch. Then I decided to check the review count on this story, and... *sniffs* Man, you guys just made cleaning a whole fridge so my mother doesn't know I was so careless with the milk worth it! Seriously, it made my day! Thanks for all the support, here's your third chapter!**_

_**Though, Io do apologize for it a bit. I think it's a bit too crackish in my opinion. I'm still very sleepy XD**_

_**Please note that this story has not been beta'd. Well, the first half of it was, but the beta(my Grammar Nazi sister)lost the second half, and decided that beta'ing was not for her. So, does anyone want the position?**_

_**Thanks again for all your reviews! I will begin developing the next chapter once that review count hits, oh, let's say... 40. Or 45. That's only ten more reviews. Maybe I'll compromise and say 43. Un, 43 it is!**_

_**Have a great day, you guys! I hope you liked this chapter!**_

_**~Scylar X.**_


	4. One Screw Loose

_**-Left Us Falling-**_

_**~One Screw Loose~**_

_Sometimes, I bully myself so much that I cry._

_Always, I cry alone because no one hears me._

_Forever, I waste my hours away thinking of what could be._

_At times, I think so deeply that I think myself to sleep._

_Frequently, I can't sleep at night because of nightmares._

_Most times, my nightmares are really my dreams._

_Usually, my dreams are what scare me the most._

_Oft, I force myself awake because my dreams are frightening._

_Normally, I awake with tears in my eyes._

_Oftentimes, my tears come when they shouldn't._

_Ordinarily, my tears won't come when they should._

_Commonly, I cry when I think of myself._

_Sometimes, I **am** what scares me the most._

Verde almost freaked Reborn out—often, really. He was so in love with his work that is was hard to watch. Well, Reborn could relate slightly—he loved his job too, being the sadist that he is, but...this?

"I'm so glad." Verde cried out as he hugged the large, metallic tube to his chest, tears streaming down his face. "So, so, so, so glad!" This was slightly out of character for even Verde.

Sagi was clutching the trim of Reborn's suit jacket, giggling so hard that Reborn thought the child might pass out from lack of oxygen.

"Verde, let's go back to the lab, why not?" Fon reasoned with the wailing scientist, leading him out of the room. He looked back before they exited to order one of the other scientists to bring the snake-like invention along with them to the labs.

Reborn looked over to where Leon and Natsu were huddled. "Sagi, the Nono wished to speak with us."

The orange hooded head popped up and turned toward his voice. Reborn was smirking again, as everyone else was still slightly slack-jawed, glancing over in the tiny child's direction. "Sagi is coming, Mr. Reborn. Can Sagi bring Mr. Fire-Lion?"

"Yes, bring Natsu along. Where is Leon?"

"Mr. Gun-Lizard is here~" The child held the green chameleon to his chest. Leon slithered out of his arms and settled snugly on top of Sagi's head. Sagi followed after Reborn as he walked out of the room, holding Natsu to his chest like a teddy bear.

They entered Timoteo's office, and the Ninth boss sat behind the desk. Iemitsu stood off to the side along with Reborn, while Sagi immediately climbed into the left of the two chairs that sat before the Nono, toting Natsu along with him. The cub only purred. Leon narrowed his eyes, and Reborn swore he saw the little chameleon smile.

Nono eyes Sagi, then let out a long, pent-up sigh before beginning to speak. "Sagi, we have a job for you."

"Sagi knows."

Iemitsu raised an eyebrow at Reborn, who shrugged as Nono continued. "The Vongola Sky ring has gone missing. We... Er, we believe it has been stolen." Timoteo appeared to feel awkward about speaking to Sagi as just another employed thief. Reborn understood.

"Sagi knows this, too." Sagi mused, tilting his head to the right a little and putting a finger to his lips thoughtfully.

Nono shifted in his seat before deciding to get it over with. "We've decided to hire you for the job." He told the tiny child.

Sagi let out a small gasp, as if he'd just realized something important. "Oh! Sagi knows _this_, too! Sagi must be _very_ smarter than he thought he was, to know everything!" The child exclaimed with unsuppressed amounts of glee. Reborn hoped the kid was having fun playing around with the two Vongola's heads. It was sure entertaining to watch. He pondered, for a second, what the many eavesdroppers were thinking right now, before shaking the thought away and going back to observing the scene before him.

"Erm, yes." Nono squirmed in his seat. Iemitsu was eying Sagi with slight apprehension, and Reborn just wanted to break down laughing now. "N-Now, how about—"

"Sagi will get Client-san's sky Ring back," Sagi assured the man, who blinked. "Sagi knows that having all the Vongola rings together is important. So Sagi will get Sky Ring back for new Client-san. Sagi just wants to know how much Sagi is going to be payed when he wins this game."

Nono turned toward Reborn and Iemitsu, making a face of confusion and mouthing the word "game?" Iemitsu turned to Reborn, and the hitman shrugged. How the hell was _he_ suppose know what ran through that little monster's head? Whatever it was, it must be pretty messed up. Seriously, the kid talked in third person! Who did that, unless they'd gone through some weird, screwed up shi—trauma? Reborn shook his head as the two other men turned back toward Sagi. For some reason, he had the automatic urge to hold back any curses and colorful language while Sagi was still in hearing distance, even in his own thoughts. What was up with that?

"Well, then..." Nono cleared his throat, and continued in a slightly stronger voice. "Alright then. How will we get in contact with you?"

"Sagi will stay with Mr. Gun-Lizard~"

Reborn snorted, holding back a few cackles as the two men cast each other puzzled glances. "Mr. Gun-Lizard...?" Iemitsu questioned. "...Leon?" Nono guessed. The two men turned toward the hitman next to them, bewildered. _"...Reborn_?"

Reborn smirked widely, shrugging. "What? I offered!"

Iemitsu's eyes were wide as the blond shook his head. "Reborn, _offering_ to baby sit, knowing what he was getting into, and _still_ offering anyway. The world. It's ending." He told Nono, who could only nod.

A slight tick mark appeared over Reborn. "It's not babysitting. Sagi's seriously mature for a child, and it's slightly creepy." He told them. Sagi only sat there, grinning up at them. Natsu sat in his lap, staring curiously up at the conversing men, and Leon sat on Sagi's hooded head, observing them as well. It was a puppy-dogged eyed tower of absolute cuteness. Reborn forced himself to look away. Best not to get caught in _that_ trap. Iemitsu wasn't so lucky.

He sucked in a breath, eyes impossibly wide. "Oh... My... God..." Reborn could almost _feel_ the eavesdroppers all leaning in uncertainly, trying to figure out what was going on inside. "Th-th-that...is...s-so..." The blond man gulped. "I-I can't... God, I can't look away..." Reborn pitied him greatly.

"Sagi, mind turning off the cute factor for a while? Why don't you go back to being adorable with a slight twist of creepy, hm?" Reborn suggested. The two men whipped their heads around to stare at him, and Reborn knew without a doubt that their eavesdroppers were gaping openly. He could understand. Reborn, greatest hitman in the world, _never_ called _anything_ adorable. That's just how it was. Well, Sagi the toddler phantom thief wasn't your average cup of tea.

"Sagi will try." The tiny child told him in a serious voice.

"Arigato."

"Mr. Reborn is welcome~"

Iemitsu was still gazing at the child with awe, eyes sparkling, even after Natsu settled down in the boy's lap, and Leon curled up out of sight in the orange hood. "Oi, Sawada." Reborn rolled his eyes. "Back to the job."

"Er—r-right... Of course." The blond breathed.

"What about the people outside, Mr. Reborn?" Sagi questioned, and Reborn saw Nono and Iemitsu tilting their heads in unison. "People outside...?"

"We have a few eavesdroppers." Reborn dutifully notified them. "No biggie."

Nono stewed on that. "This meeting was supposed to be private! No one's suppose to know the ring's missing, even!" Iemitsu froze, them subtly began to scoot away from the slightly angered mafia boss. Reborn smirked.

Sagi hopped off the chair and zoomed over to the door, pulling it open quicker than a lighting strike. There were several "oomph!"s and "gyaah!"s, but eventually a small group of people fell to the ground at Sagi's feet. The tiny little phantom thief just grinned down at them. "Sagi _knew_ it!" Reborn could see the orange glow of the kid's eyes that shone through the shadow's of his hood widen. "Wow, Sagi's on a roll today! He's knowing _everything_!"

Reborn sighed, ignoring the look of wonder on the toddler's face as he squatted next to him and peered at the dog-pile of people. "Dino-san, why were you listening in on the meeting? And who's this... Hayato? Bianchi? Dino, you're leading the children astray! Don't teach them such bad habits!" He scolded the blond, who was sitting up. Dino rubbed his head, whining. "But they're gonna be taught them in the future anyway! It's their jobs! Might as well teach them now, right? And we all wanted to know what was going on, and if that kid," he pointed at Sagi, who was hugging Natsu, giggling hard. "was actually _the_ Sagi."

Iemitsu walked over. "Basil-kun?" He asked, surprised. The blue-eyed blond paled. "Ie-Iemitsu-dono!" He scrambled to his feet and bowed low. "I-I apologize! I was only walking down the corridor, when I came upon these three—"

"Hey now, " Bianchi called out. "Don't go putting the blame on us! You were leaning against the door trying to hear just as much as we were! Right Hayato-kun?" She ended sweetly, looking over to her silver-haired brother, who was trying his best not to be seen.

Hayato seemed to silently curse her for bringing the attention to him, but he nodded. Everyone else but Sagi seemed to calm down when they saw him, and the older men frowned. Bianchi sighed sadly, and Sagi finally stopped laughing. The orange-clad child seemed to frown, but Reborn still couldn't see his face, so he wasn't sure. "Sagi wants to know why everyone is so down." He turned toward Hayato, who was sulking now. "Who are you?"

"Hayato Gokudera." He immediately responded, then looked down again and slid his right toe along the carpet. Hayato wasn't normally one to be shy. He used to be loud, outspoken and pretty brightly characterized. He retreated into himself a month or two back, however. It was when...

"Let's not talk about that right now." Nono suggested, and Hayato crossed his arms when Bianchi let out a sigh of slight relief. "Reborn, why don't you show Sagi where you're staying?"

Reborn paused, then looked at the small, grinning thief with a raised eyebrow. "Do I need to?"

The others appeared to be confused at that question, but Sagi only hugged Natsu tighter. The cub didn't seem to mind the fact that it's lungs were most likely collapsing by now due to extensive squeezing. "Sagi already knows where Mr. Reborn is staying." The child notified them. Sagi walked over and reached up to slide his hand into Reborn's. Reborn just noticed that Sagi was wearing white gloves that fit nicely over his tiny hands. He chastised himself for not noticing sooner. He was the world's greatest hitman, he was suppose to notice _everything_. "Sagi is very sleepy right now~ because Sagi rode an airplane for a lone time. Mr. Reborn will take Sagi to his room to sleep now?" Orange glowing eyes peered up at the Italian man. Reborn rolled his eyes at the stares of the others in the room, except Hayato who was examining Sagi intently, and led the little phantom thief out of the room. "Hai. C'mon."

They left through the still-open door, leaving Iemitsu and the Ninth to sort out Dino, Basil, and the kids.

**(I will never let you fall.)**

Reborn sat in a chair beside his bed, staring thoughtfully at the tiny little child curled up in his dark-gray sheets. Something about this kid always brought this strange, unknown feeling to a boil in his chest—especially when Sagi was sleeping. His mind was telling him that the feeling was titled "protectiveness," but he didn't really listen to his brain that much, only his instincts. Sadly, his instincts were agreeing with said brain right now, and Reborn wasn't sure what to do with this information. Why did he feel protective of Sagi, when he'd only just met the tiny phantom thief not seventeen hours ago? Or...had he known Sagi before now? No, that wasn't possible—Reborn remembered every single detail of his life since he'd turned eleven. Except for that thirteen hour long interruption of nothingness in his memories from three months before now, when he'd broken the arcobaleno curse. Maybe that was when...? But what did _Sagi_ have to do with his curse-breaking?

Reborn felt like some sort of overprotective parent now. He'd been doing nothing but stare at the sleeping Sagi for the past two hours—he was starting to creep himself out. He got up from the chair and began to make his way to the door, intent on going to the canteen for coffee when he heard the sheets rustle behind him, and a soft whimper. He froze, then turned around and cast an intent gaze at Sagi who appeared to be trying to drown himself in the blankets. The tiny, white gloved little hands were clenching the sheets in tight fists, and what he could see of Sagi's face—only the jaw and just above his mouth—was a sickly pale.

The world-famous hitman frowned and moved forward. He sat down next to Sagi on the mattress, and almost immediately, the child began to calm down. He remembered back to what Sagi had told him the night before. _"__Sagi isn't able to sleep when Sagi is alone. That is why Sagi and Mr. Reborn and Mr. Gun-Lizard need to stay here tonight."_

Reborn blinked. _Oh, right. I forgot..._ He mentally hit his palm against his face, then laid down next to Sagi. The child unconsciously curled into him, the heat radiating from his body attracting the slightly shivering thief to his side. Reborn gazed at him with a contemplative look, then sighed and wrapped an arm around Sagi, who snuggled into his side. Reborn laid his head back and let out another breath. He'd never really done this before. How was he suppose to look after a kid with all his jobs? And when that kid had jobs of his own? He shook his head. Crazy, he was crazy.

_But_... He looked down again, giving the orange-eyes child a look. He knew that Sagi had been taking care of himself for at least a couple of months. Maybe even his whole life. The kid knew how to look after himself, he didn't really need Reborn. But seeing the kid just plaster himself to Reborn like he'd done, putting his trust in the hitman without question—Reborn didn't know what to do with that. He'd never had anyone, let alone a child, trust him so completely before. It threw him off of his game.

He rolled his eyes and drew Sagi closer to him. Look at him, the world's greatest hitman, getting all sentimental over a kid who probably was just as friendly with everyone else as he was with him. "Just... think about something else, Reborn." He whispered.

Sagi shifted in his arms, mumbling something. "...No," the child murmured, as if chastising someone. "don't."

Reborn stilled. It was almost as if... Sagi had been talking to him. But, that was silly. Sagi was asleep anyway. Right? He looked down. Yes. Right.

**(I'll stand up with you forever.)**

He was surrounded by that familiar darkness, but he could still observe at the same time. He looked out to his friend, who he knew well, but who didn't know him. He heard the man whisper something to himself, and he frowned. No, he knew, his friend had to dwell on this. It was the only way things would run smoothly. He knew that Reborn needed to think about this more, and not distract himself, for that would get him absolutely nowhere. He just wish the hitman would see that. "No, don't." He sighed in dejection, knowing the man couldn't hear him, had never heard him anyway. But what he didn't know, is that there was someone there, now; someone who could make Reborn hear for him. And it was what he didn't know, this, that would change how things worked from now on until the end.

**(I'll be there for you through it all.)**

Reborn glanced down at the still form in his arms for the hundredth time. His thoughts just kept going back to Sagi and Sagi only. He couldn't do this, he had work to do, he needed to think about that instead. He had about a thousand other things he needed to think about instead, but he just stared down at Sagi and thought about the tiny little sleeping phantom thief he held to his chest. He didn't even remember what he was thinking about Sagi, he just knew he was thinking about Sagi and only Sagi. It was like his mind was on autopilot, and he was standing to the side, observing, watching as it worked.

Then, slowly, as if it had a mind of it's own, his hand began to inch forward, going for Sagi's hood. He wanted to stop himself—why Sagi always kept his hood up all the time really was non of _his_ business—but he couldn't pull his hand away. Just as his fingers touched the edge of the hood, and tiny, white gloved hand latched gently around his wrist, not even big enough to wrap all the way around it. He blinked, as if coming out of a trance, and glanced down to see two, bright orange, glowing eyes staring up at him from deep within the shadows of the hood he'd been trying to pull back. Reborn froze, then felt a slight blush tinge his cheeks when he noticed that he'd been caught in the act. By a five year old.

"S-Sorry, Sagi. I don't..." He shrugged slightly, looking away. Reborn Chaos did _not_ stutter. This was just a really off day for him. Seriously.

"Sagi understands." The sleepy voice assured him, and the child released his wrist and brought his hand down to clutch Reborn's suit jacket back in his tiny little fists. He nuzzled his head into Reborn's chest, and Reborn realized just how out of character this kid made hi act. He was surprised no one had screamed, and run for the hills awaiting the apocalypse already. Things like this.. Reborn, snuggling with a toddler, treating him with slight respect, hanging out with him and thinking about _him_ when he was suppose to be working... they just didn't _happen_.

He shook his head to clear the thoughts away and sat up. "I need to get to work, Sagi. I have jobs to do. Are you still tired? I know you can't sleep alone, do you want me to get...Dino-san?"

"Sagi is not tired anymore." The kid said. "He is just a little too dizzy to be walking by himself right now." _Jet lag._ Reborn thought.

"Alright. Do you want to come with me, then?" Reborn didn't know why he was even asking as Sagi nodded without another thought. "Yes, Sagi will always go with Mr. Reborn."

Reborn felt _that feeling_ burn in his chest again, but he shook it off and stood up from the bed, still holding the thief in his arms. Sagi wrapped his arms around Reborn's neck and buried his face into the older man's neck, sighing contently. And as Reborn made his way to the cafeteria, the wide eyed stares coupled with the minute sight of Leon curled up in Sagi's hood as he turned a corner made him feel as if he was walking through that hotel Lobby all over again. Except this time, all the stares were of complete and utter confusion and some shock, and Natsu was purring in Sagi's lap.

Not really any difference there, really. Reborn walked into the canteen, intent on just getting his _coffee_. God knows he _needed_ it.

**(Even if saving you sends me to heaven.)**

_This chapter is dedicated to Tiger723 ;) Don't worry, Kitty-chan, you'll be seeing your wish soon enough._

_**Right, so here's your chapter, my dear readers! I have to say, I was a bit afraid we weren't going to get to 45 as fast as we got to 26, but I needn't have worried. You got there fast enough—there was just that time, a whole day, that we were stuck at 39 reviews. Then, I log on in the night, and -poof!- we have 50! You guys are truly awesome XD And this is just the fourth chapter! I can't believe how many reviews it's gotten. It's got more reviews, and much faster too, than all my other stories. Not combined, though, but that would be awesome. Let's try that.**_

_**I don't really have much to say this time around. Except, we have **_**no****_ food. At all. Nothing in the fridge, the cupboards are almost bare save for the fact that they're full of junk I have no idea how to cook. T^T Mum was suppose to go shopping last night, but I woke up early this morning and found _nothing_! Siiiiigh. Anyway..._**

_**The new review goal for the next chapter is... Let's go with 62. Twelve more reviews. I'm sure we'll get there, maybe even today. I can't believe how popular this story is, you guys. Whenever I look at the stats, it brightens my mood even if my day's going terribly.**_

_**Anyway, in your reviews, c'mon guys! Tell me what you liked, what you wanna see, what you hated, what you don't wanna see again, how I can improve this and make it better, how tall are you, when was the last time you visited you grandparent's house, anything! Let's chat, gimme some advice to make this story epic, stuff like that! One worded reviews seem to piss me off for some reason, do any of you guys ever get that? Idk, might just be me ^ ^' Anyway, for each chapter, I shall pick one reviewer to dedicate to, and put one of their wishes on my list. If I choose you, I shall PM you and ask what you want to see happen in this story. You tell me, whatever you want, and you'll see it happen later in this story. Seriously. No joke. This is mostly just a way to get you guys to actually review this thing, but it's also because I wanna hear your ideas, see what's running through your head when you read this story.**_

_**Anyway, thanks! I'll get started on the next chapter soon, hopefully figure out a way to get Tigger's wish written in there, and we'll see how long it takes us to reach 62. Maybe we'll even make it to 70. I don't know, it's all up to you guys!**_

_**Oh, and kudos to whoever can guess what song I used for the linebreaks, and by who. It's stuck in my head right now.**_

_***WAFFLES SHALL DOMINATE—**_

_**~Scylar X.**_


	5. Fake Face

_**-Left Us Falling-**_

_**~Fake Face~**_

_When I see your smile,_

_tears run down my face_

_I can't replace._

_And now that I'm stronger I've figured out,_

_how this world grows cold_

_and breaks through my soul,_

_and I know, I'll find—_

_deep inside of me,_

_I can be the one..._

Reborn probably would have regretted giving Sagi any of his coffee whatsoever, if he was actually human, and if it wasn't so damn funny to watch.

Honestly, Sagi didn't really act too different when he was hyped up. If anything, the thief gained a slight sadistic persona, and Reborn _loved_ that. And, it was worth it when he saw the other mafioso's reactions.

He looked down as the grinning Sagi tugged on the hem of his jacket. The orange glow of the child's eyes was a brighter shade now that the kid was hyped up on caffeine. Natsu was sitting on his shoulder, and Leon was still curled up in Sagi's hood. "Mr. Reborn, Sagi is hungry~"

The hitman nodded, and thought for a minute. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Dino walk in with Bianchi and Hayato, most likely getting some lunch, judging by the way the younger Gokudera was edging away from his sister. "Well, what do you want to eat? There's pasta, but maybe you'd appreciate Japanese cuisine more, ne?"

"Sagi is used to eating Italian~ But hai, Sagi likes to eat Japanese food more. Do cook-sans make dango here?" Sagi inquired. Reborn didn't miss the way those orange glowing eyes lit up even more at the mention of the Asian sweets. The hitman nodded, and gestured to a nearby table. "I'll go and order some; you stay here, alright?" Sagi nodded and settled down on the bench, hugging Natsu and engaging Leon into what appeared an intense staring contest.

As Reborn was off placing his orders, Dino, Bianchi, and Hayato noticed Sagi sitting alone. The blond mafia boss-in training bent down to whisper something to his two, smaller companions, before he and Bianchi dragged a grumbling Hayato over and sat down next to the orange-clad phantom thief.

"Hi there!" Dino chimed cheerfully, and Bianchi gave Sagi a sweet smile. Sagi tilted his head and waved. His gaze zeroed in on Hayato, who sulked, but waved silently before sagging his shoulders and staring at the ground. "You're Sagi, right?" Bianchi smiled again, nudging her brother in the ribs. Hayato sent her a glare.

Sagi nodded, eyes still trained on Hayato. Dino grinned brightly, leaning back into the table and crossing his legs. "We've heard a lot about you, Sagi-kun. Word has it, you're the greatest phantom thief the world's ever seen." Hayato perked up a little, eying Sagi, but looked back at the ground when his green eyes met Sagi's glowing orange orbs. "And I see you here, a little five year old, adorable kid holding a mafia boss's lion cub and a chameleon that belongs to the world's greatest hitman—how do you do it?" Dino pleaded, eyes bright. "You must be able to preform miracles, or something!" Hayato snorted, glaring at the tiled floor, and Bianchi looked at Sagi in slight awe.

Sagi stopped grinning, and hugged Natsu tighter. "Miracles aren't real, Dino-san." The child told them seriously, and all three looked at him in surprise. Hayato jerked his head up, staring at the younger boy in confusion.

"What do you mean, Sagi-kun?" Dino asked, puzzled.

"Miracles aren't real, and Sagi can't make them." Sagi insisted, looking down. "Sagi is just very, very lucky, but Sagi had to be very, very, _very_ unlucky before he could be lucky." And no matter how much they pestered him, he would say no more on the matter.

Reborn came back, and only raised an eyebrow at the three before sitting down next to Sagi, placing a plate of dango in front of the child. The was licked clean in three seconds flat, and they all stared with loose jaws.

"You... must've been... very hungry." Reborn decided, before starting on his fettuccine.

"Mmm~" Sagi sighed contently. The other three were still trying to figure out where the dango had gone, since none of them had even seen Sagi bite into even one piece. "Sagi loves dango!"

"I can see..." Dino notified him weakly. Bianchi beamed at the younger child. "Wow! Such enthusiasm! I'll have to get you to try my food sometime, so I can get your opinion!" Hayato's eyes widen comically, and he sent an intense, no-nonsense look at Sagi, furiously bringing his fingers across his throat in a slicing motion to warn the younger boy off. Sagi cast the eight-year-old boy a small smirk.

"Sagi, I have a few jobs I have to do today. You don't mind staying here, do you?" Reborn asked nonchalantly as he finished his pasta. The others didn't get why the hitman was asking such a question, but Sagi nodded. "Yes, Mr. Reborn. Sagi wants to play a game with Hayato-kun today, anyway."

Hayato looked up surprised. "N-Nani?"*

Sagi nodded, scooting over so he was sitting next to the silver-haired child. "Sagi wants to play a game with Hayato-kun. Will you play with Sagi, Hayato-kun?"

"S-Sure..." Hayato blushed a little. Someone wanted to play with him? Nobody ever wanted to play with him. He was too gloomy, or weird. None of the other kids ever asked to play with him.

"Yay!" Sagi bounced happily. "Sagi will spend all day with Hayato-kun! Come with Sagi, Hayato-kun!" The Japanese child grabbed the young mafioso by the hand and dragged him from the canteen. Bianchi sat back, smiling happily. Dino looked a little lost, not knowing what just happened.

Reborn smirked.

**(Hold on)**

"Hayato-kun~" Sagi whispered as the two children slowed down to a stop. Hayato looked over at the other with a puzzled look. "Hai?"

Sagi peered at him, and Hayato got a look at two, glowing orange eyes. He almost shivered at their intensity. "Why are you so sad?" Sagi asked him.

"N-Nani?" Hayato started. Sad? What did he mean? He wasn't...sad...

"Your face," Sagi explained, and Hayato brought up a hand to touch his cheek. What about it? " It's not real?"

"...E-Eto?!" Hayato yelled, trying to understand. After his outburst, the silver-haired child clamped a hand over his mouth and turned to stare at the younger boy. "What do you mean? My face is as real as yours is!"

Sagi appeared to frown at this. "Hnn... Iie. Sagi is not too sure about his own face, but he knows that Hayato-kun isn't wearing his real face now. Why is your face fake now, Hayato-kun?"

Now, Hayato was having some trouble understanding the way Sagi thought things out. This younger child was extremely confusing, and Hayato just didn't understand what Sagi was trying to get at. Hayato didn't get how Sagi thought, since Sagi's way of thinking was very different from all the other people he'd met. But, as he thought about it, things seemed to smooth out and he was able to hear the words in a different way.

"My...face..." He murmured, almost forgetting about Sagi, who was still holding on tight to his right hand, as he brought his left up again to touch his cheek softly. "...Fake...?"

He almost didn't notice as Sagi began to gently drag him towards a nearby wooden bench that sat against the wall of the wide, empty corridor. The orange-clad thief climbed up onto the bench, and pulled on Hayato's arm until the other was sitting next to him. Hayato had a small frown on his face, as if he was in deep thought. Sagi waited patiently for him to sort it all out, choosing not to speak until Hayato looked over at him again, blinking in surprise.

"Why isn't your face real, Hayato-kun?" Sagi asked softly, tilting his head to the side.

Hayato turned away, bringing his legs up and hugged them to his chest. "My...face...isn't real...b-because..." He tilted his head downwards and buried his face into his knees.

Sagi scooted over and hugged the older child. "Are you okay, Hayato-kun? Sagi is sorry if he made you sad..."

"N-no..." Hayato struggled for words. "Nani... W-What did you mean, when you said... my face isn't real?"

"It isn't." Sagi reasoned. "Hayato-kun is...wearing a mask. This," The child brought up a tiny, white-gloved hand to run his thumb alongside Hayato's cheek. "...Not Hayato-kun's real face. Isn't Hayato-kun supposed to be happy? Hayato-kun plays games, like other kids, like Sagi does. Hayato-kun is good at playing, almost as good like Sagi. Why isn't Hayato-kun happy now? Why is Hayato-kun's face not real?"

Hayato was quiet, then he leaned over and returned the hug. "My mom died, a few m-months ago. She drove her car off the cliff, and it was really high, a-and..." The eight-year-old leaned forward, his long bangs shadowing his eyes. "It was on m-my birthday... The maids and butlers are always talking to each other about it. They are saying that my dad probably made it happen, but.. th-that's not true. I-It was an accident, right?" He asked, even though it was most likely that Sagi didn't know. "My mom used to play the piano with me.. I-I don't play it anymore, not-not since she..." He sniffled slightly.

Sagi frowned. "That's not good." He whispered to himself, but Hayato could hear, too. "Hayato-kun should play the piano. Playing the piano makes Hayato-kun happy." Hayato opened his mouth to object, but Sagi moved his hand over, placing his palm over the other's lips. "Hayato-kun's face is real when he plays the piano." The other child decided against asking how the tiny thief knew this. "Anyway, Hayato-kun is closer to Hayato-kun's oka-san when he plays the piano." Sagi finished, and nodded, pulling his hand away from Hayato's mouth. He leaned over and rested his head against Hayato's shoulder, closing his orange eyes. "Will Hayato-kun play the piano for Sagi, please, please?"

**(Everybody's story—)**

Hayato Gokudera was at a loss of what to do. This kid, Sagi... Hayato wanted to just push him off his shoulder, and run away, to his home, to his room, and hide under the covers and pretend this conversation never happened because the words, they _hurt_, in his chest—but he couldn't. Something about the way Sagi had run his fingers so gently over his cheek, and the way he was laying his head against his shoulder now so trustingly, as if he wouldn't mind placing his own life in Hayato's hands... Hayato hadn't have anyone trust him so completely before. It was always "No, Hayato, you're too young for that," or, "Sorry, Hayato, maybe when you're older," or, "Hayato! You can't play with this!" as if he was just a mere, helpless child, but _this_ kid... He just met him five hours ago, and here he is, resting his head on his shoulder, hugging him as if he was a brother.

After his mom had died, Hayato had never felt so alone. He'd always felt alone, really, but when he'd been allowed to finally meet his birth mother, and she helped him in his piano playing skills, and she'd spent time with him, and she _loved_ him—then he'd lost her, and the alone-ness came back harder than before. It hurt, almost physically. Sure, he had Bianchi, and he knew she cared for him, a lot. And he had his dad, who he _knew_ didn't have _anything_ to do with the death of his mother, no matter what the servants said... but...

And now, here comes this little...tiny...famous thief. Sagi. He just comes along, and... treats Hayato.. like he's _somebody_. Somebody worth knowing, worth befriending. Worth caring for, not just because he was blood related—because he wasn't, now. He was just...

He looked over at Sagi, who still had his eyes closed, because Hayato couldn't see the glowing orange orbs anymore—who still held onto his right hand tightly, grasping it in his own, white-gloved hand, which was so _tiny_, and _breakable_-looking. Sagi, who was still lying his head against Hayato's shoulder... and Hayato knew he couldn't push him away, now.

"Are you... my friend?" He asked, almost incredulously. And Sagi smiled, eyes still closed.

"Sagi will always be your friend, if Hayato is okay with that." The child whispered back. "And Sagi always only wants his friends to be happy, and have real faces, and care for Sagi and protect Sagi, and Sagi will always protect his friends, and care for them."

Hayato refused to cry. He hadn't even cried when he heard the news a few months ago, but now, his eyes were stinging with this strange, wet feeling. He turned back to the other child and wrapped his arms around him, burying his face into Sagi's hood so that the tears wouldn't come out, and that feeling trying to break out of his chest that almost felt like a cough, but he knew was a sob, wouldn't come out. Sagi didn't move at all, but Hayato felt the smaller boy smile a little. And he knew it wasn't that playful, mischievous grin, or that knowing, border-line creepy smirk, or that bright, innocent upturn of those full-pink lips, but a real smile. A happy smile, grateful, and caring. And Hayato knew it wasn't there often.

"O-Only if you have a real face, too." Hayato's voice wobbled as he mumbled the words into the soft orange fabric, holding Sagi tightly to his chest.

Sagi's face was blank now, but Hayato didn't see the younger's eyebrows come down together.

"Fake..." Sagi whispered as he reached a tiny hand to touch his own cheek, so quiet that Hayato, who was sniffling now, couldn't hear. "...Fake..."

**(And Everybody knows.)**

Reborn scowled as he finished off the job quickly—quicker than he'd usually. Something wasn't right. He cursed out loud, causing the man in front of him to jump in fear before Reborn finished him off. Something was _wrong_—

But Reborn didn't know _what_.

**(It's not _real_.)**

_This chapter is dedicated to Lightning515. Do not fear, my friend. Your wish will soon be granted!~_

_**So sorry this chapter was short T^T My... mother... threatened to take my laptop away during the nights, for anything but school, for a week, and I **_**really****_ didn't want to leave you guys hanging there, not after you gave me an awesome 72 reviews! Man, you guys are just amazing!~_**

_**Now, as for the new review goal... Let's male it 83. I would've gone with 88, since it's a multiple of 11 *squee* but I thought that was pushing it a little, so we'll go with 83 instead.**_

_**I hoped you guys liked it! Please remember that I'll be picking the next lucky reviewer as soon as I start on my next chapter!~ Then, I'll add said reviewer's wish to the list that I have in store for the story's plot. I'm looking for detailed reviews that tell me what you liked about the story, what you didn't like, what you want to see more of, what you want to see less of, what you think should happen, and advice to make the plot better if you have any ideas. This is how I shall be choosing the reviewer.**_

_**Anyway, I've found that green tea mixed with milk and one or two packets of sugar is a recipe from heaven. To bad I tend to forget my tea is right next to me, and by the time I want a sip it's cold T^T Ah well. I'll find a way around that. Maybe I just don't heat it up for long enough.**_

_**So, did you guys like that little bonding session I had with Sagi and little Gokudera? I'm sorry if it was too touchy-feely for some of you. I think I got caught up in the moment and carried away.**_

_**Alright! So, review, get the count up to 83, and I'll see you all next chapter!**_

_**Ciao!~**_

_**~Scylar X.**_


	6. Paper Planes

_**-Left Us Falling-**_

_**~Paper Planes~**_

_Seasons are changing, and_

_waves are crashing, and_

_stars are falling all for us._

_Days grow longer, and_

_nights grow shorter—_

_I can show you, _

_I'll be the one..._

The good(perverted) doctor looked down, bemused. He raised an eyebrow—this certainly wasn't a part of his daily routine, was it? He couldn't really remember...

The child beamed up at him. "Konichiwa, Mr. Doctor-akuto."*

Shamal blinked. This child didn't have any shame, it seemed. He grinned and crouched down to be at eye level with those glowing orange orbs. He liked this kid. "_Mattaku,_ Yūkan." He gave the child his own nickname. "Do you need something?"**

The child giggled. "Hai, hai. Sagi has a problem."

Shamal raised his other eyebrow lazily. So this was Sagi, eh? "Oh? And what is that problem?"

The child stopped smiling and peered up into the doctor's face, who blinked in surprise ten seconds later, in a late reaction. "Hayato-kun's face isn't real." Sagi notified him.

This stumped Shamal. "I...wasn't aware Hayato-kun had gotten plastic surgery..." The brown-haired man blinked.

Sagi began to giggle again. "N-No, Doctor-akuto. Hayato-kun is wearing a mask. He isn't being Hayato-kun." Sagi explained. Shamal let out what appeared to be a long, pent-up sigh, and leaned back against the railing of the balcony the two were standing on. He considered the words the child spoke, before wondering what that redheaded lady he'd seen two days ago was doing.

"Hmmm..." He hummed, before turning toward Sagi. "Hayato-kun isn't being Hayato-kun, eh? I suppose that he's depressed, or something."

Orange flashed, and Shamal found himself staring down at two, eerily glowing orbs of light. At first, he'd only thought that Sagi's eyes just caught the light and reflected it easily, but now that he was closer, he could see that, no, they gave off their _own_ light. They were honest-to-goodness _glowing_. It kinda freaked him out a bit. "Hayato-kun is sad, Sagi knows this. He wants Hayato-kun to be happy. You are a doctor, Akuto. You will make Hayato-kun feel better."

"Ah," Shamal sighed. "That is where I cannot help you, I am afraid, my dear Yūkan. I fear that I only treat women—"

Sagi gazed at Shamal, and he wasn't smiling. Orange glowed brighter, and Shamal felt himself heat up as if he had a fever. His eyes began burning, and his mind told him to close them to make them cool down. He squeezed his eyes shut, listening to his mind, and brought up a hand to wipe away the bead of sweat that was trickling down his brow. "A-Ah, okay! Well, h-how do you propose we help him, hm?" He said quickly, and, it was if he'd snapped his fingers, the heat was swept away. He brought a shaking hand back up to his face and pressed it over his eyes. What was that?

Sagi smiled brightly, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. "Oh, Sagi doesn't know that part. That is why Sagi is asking Doctor-akuto! How will Hayato-kun get better?"

Shamal shook his head and pushed what had just happened to the back of his mind, for a rainy day, and rubbed his chin. "_I_ dunno. The kid needs a hobby. Any idea for that, Yūkan?"

Sagi's smile disappeared once again, and his face grew deadly serious. Shamal felt cold sweat trickling down his brow, awaiting the searing heat again, but Sagi eyes didn't light up again this time, so he guessed he was somewhat safe, even though the glowing orange orbs grew cold. Did he say something wrong? Sagi turned to face him, and was quiet for a moment before opening his mouth, and saying one word. "Boom."

Shamal blinked. Then, he grinned and snapped his fingers. "Ah, yes. That right there. Of course! Dynamite. You're so smart, Yūkan. Why didn't I think of that?"

Sagi smiled again, and those supernatural orange eyes gleamed with a warm light. "Sagi _is_ smart..." The child beamed.

Shamal decided he liked it better when Sagi was smiling.

**(Stop.)**

"Where are we going, Sagi?" Hayato asked in confusion. The orange-clad thief that he was beginning to look up to despite the age difference was dragging him by the arm down the corridors toward the eastern balcony that looked over the field which sat next to the Vongola base. The strength that the younger boy possessed was surprising.

"Sagi is taking Hayato-kun outside to play a very fun game!" Sagi chimed as they all but fell through the doors leading onto the balcony.

"What kind of g—Dr. _Shamal_? Wh-what's that pervert doing here?!" The silver-haired child shouted out. He looked over at Sagi incredulously, and the younger child beamed at him. "Come play with Sagi, Hayato-kun!" Sagi cheered. "Let's play a game!~"

Hayato let out a breath and followed with a slightly apprehensive look on his face. Sagi was just tall enough to look over the rails, and Hayato was tall enough to cross him arms and rest his elbows on the edge if he stood on his toes. Shamal grinned lazily down at the two of them and gestured to the paper airplanes that were scattered along the ground at their feet. Hayato raised an eyebrow at them. "Eh?"

Sagi held a finger to his faded pink lips. "Shh, Hayato-kun." The orange eyes that shone through the shadows of his hood narrows into small half crescents as his mouth turned up into a smile. "Watch this~"

The child reached down and grabbed one of the lanes, then stood on his toes and tossed it off of the balcony. Hayato watched as it began to do lazy loops in the air, then his green eyes widened as Shamal pulled out a stick of dynamite. "Wh-what's—"

Sagi placed a hand over his mouth, and the two children watched as the doctor quickly lit the fuse with a match before tossing it at the airplane. It hit dead on, and Hayato looked on with wide eyes as the plane erupted like a firework. A few seconds later, bit's and pieces of paper rained down like snow.

"...Ah..." The boy took a deep breath. "W-Wow..." It was like he was seeing the sun for the first time.

Sagi and Shamal sent each other secret smiles.

Hayato turned to Shamal, after a few minutes of just staring at paper bits falling, so fast Sagi's eyes widened, and the young Gokudera could have gotten whiplash. "Dr. Shamal!" Hayato pleaded, looking almost desperate, and Shamal raised an eyebrow. "C-Can you... Please teach me that!"

Shamal struck a thinking pose, then sighed lazily. Hayato seemed slightly disappointed, until Shamal gave a small shrug. "Okay."

Hayato took a sharp breath and his eyes widened, and, for just a second, Sagi was able to see joy in those bright green, bordering blue eyes. It made him feel happy himself.

Soon, Hayato was lighting matches like crazy, and tossing up sticks of dynamite as if it was an everyday thing for him. Sagi watched with a grin

"Oh no!" Hayato shouted as he dropped one of the dynamite sticks as he was in the process of throwing it. Shamal's eyes widened in slight panic, and Sagi was right there, just as Hayato threw his arms over his head. Shamal watched in fascination as the thief snatched the dynamite from the ground and tossed it into the air, hitting the paper plane right as it went off. Paper rained down like snow, one of the larger pieces still burning into ashes. There was a slight smokey fume in the air that mingles in with the fresh scent of spring, just from all the explosions they'd been making for the past hour.

_At least we found Hayato-kun a hobby._ Shamal mused.

**(Look what we started.)**

Hayato squeezed his green eyes shut, cutting the panic that shone in them off from the world. Phantom pain was rushing through his gut, from the last time he'd been in an explosion—it hadn't been pretty—he didn't want to think of it! No, Hayato! Don't think about it...

But the loud, ear-drum breaking noise and the shaking of the ground he was waiting for didn't come. Hesitantly, he opened his eyes, and the green orbs widened at the sight he came across.

Phantom thief Sagi-paru was kneeling on the railing, arm outstretched. Hayato looked over just in time to see the dynamite that he'd dropped explode, hitting the paper plane dead on. He took a breath, watching in awe as, once again, it began to snow.

Sagi hopped down nimbly and landed in a crouch on the floor of the balcony. He looked up, and all Hayato and Shamal could see were those ominous glowing orange eyes, though they weren't threatening in the least. Hayato stumbled forward and caught Sagi's gloved hand in his own. "H-How did you do that? Arigato, y-you saved my life!"

Shamal leaned back on the rail Sagi had just been crouching on and watch with no less amusement as Hayato continued to praise the tiny thief. Sagi sat down on the ground with a thoughtful look on the parts of his face that they could see.

"Why don't you not use matches, Hayato-kun?"

"Call me Nii-san." Hayato told the boy stubbornly, and Sagi brightened up. "You're my little brother now. I have to protect you." The silver-haired child decided, nodding to himself. Sagi was beaming happily, and Shamal could just barely catch the sight of tears watering those orange, glowing orbs if he squinted, before Sagi blinked, and they were gone. "Hayato-nii, then."

Hayato beamed, satisfied, and Sagi continued. "Sagi thinks that you should not use matches to light the dynamite."

Shamal frowned. "How, then, would we light them at all? They'd be useless as weapons."

Sagi gave that mischievous smirk again, and the doctor resisted a shiver. The orange clad child stood and grabbed on of the sticks of dynamite by Shamal's feet. "Hayato has fire, doesn't he? Fire like this." Orange eyes flashed, as if they'd sparked a strike of lightening, and the tip of the dynamite's fuse lit in a bright, neon orange flame.

The two watched with wide eyes as he lobbed it up and tossed a paper plane at it as it fell. Hayato was almost hanging off the railing as he leaned out to see the paper bits fall to the ground below.

"Yūkan ..." Shamal was slightly awed. "You have Sky Flame?"

Sagi turned wide orange eyes toward him, just as the orbs' glow died down to a warm light. The tiny child spun around and gazed up at the sky. "Sky? Sagi doesn't know, really."

Hayato took a breath, staring at his new little brother in wonder. "You're really surprising all the time, Otouto-sama."

Sagi smiled.

**(They don't even know we're here.)**

Sagi led Hayato off of the balcony after a while, leaving Shamal. The older boy had had a blast practicing lighting dynamite with his flames.

They wandered the corridors until Sagi came across the door leading into the room he'd been looking for. He sucked in a breath, smiled happily, and pulled Hayato into the room.

The two boys crossed the threshold of the doorway and Hayato found himself staring at a large, shiny, black grand piano. His green eyes widened in shock, and he found himself digging his heels into the ground, trying to resist being pulled any further.

Sagi stopped tugging on his arm and turned fully to face him. The younger boy gazed up at him with a calm, almost expressionless face—what he could see of it, that it. It was still shrouded in shadows.

"What's wrong, Hayato-nii?"

Hayato was beginning to feel a bit hot. He tugged at his collar, eying the piano suspiciously, before looking back at Sagi and smiling weakly. "U-Um..."

Sagi jumped forward and caught the older child in a hug, just like earlier that morning. Hayato wasn't sure if he was even conscious of his own arms wrapping around the tiny form and hugging it to his chest.

"It's okay, big brother." Sagi told him quietly. "You promised you would play for Sagi, remember? And now, Hayato-nii can be closer to his oka-san."

Hayato took in a deep breath, ten gave a shaky nod. Sagi took his hand gently in his gloved one, and led him over to the piano bench. The two sat down, and Sagi helped his friend lift the cover off of the ivory keys. Hayato ran his fingers lightly over the white painted pieces of wood, feeling the smooth textures on his skin. Contemplatively, he pressed down with his index finger, and a sound note rang out throughout the room. _A B flat._ His mind automatically told him. He kept pressing different keys, until they wove a tune around him, the notes feeling as if they were wrapping him in a safe, warm security blanket. _C, F, A, B flat, C... _He closed his eyes.

Sagi sat down on the bench, Indian style, and faced his friend instead of the piano keys, watching Hayato's face intently. He ignored the light patter of many footsteps approaching the room, and the silent opening of the door. He ignored the heads that poked through as the widening of many pairs of eyes. He just let out a small, content sigh, and watched as Hayato weaved a serene melody into the air around them, twisting and turning the notes until the music flowed like a river, out into the atmosphere, merging with the sky and bringing colors of many seasons to front in your mind.

As the song came to a close, Sagi gave a small smile. The people that had been listening in—Bianchi, Dino, Iemitsu, Basil, Fon, many of the nearby guards, even the Nono—smiled softly and closed the door as quietly as they could, leaving the two boys alone.

Hayato let out a breath he seemed to have been holding lightly, and opened his green eyes, staring down at the ivory piano keys with a small, satisfied smile.

Sagi reached out a gloved hand and rubbed the side of his pointer finger along Hayato's cheek. The boy blinked and looked over at him curiously. Sagi smiled. "See? Your face is real now, Nii-san."

**(How do you save someone without fear?)**

_This chapter is dedicated to usagi018 and AngelDono_

_Don't worry, all my little wishers. Your wishes are in the process of being put into action. Patience~_

_***Akuto—roughly translated, ,it seriously just means pervert ^ ^**_

_***Mattaku—means "absolutely," or, "totally"**_

_*** Yūkan—means "brave," "bold" **_

_**Did I miss anything? No? Okay.**_

_**Right, so... Oh my god. Like, seriously. I started this chapter with a author's note already in mind, but I was afraid to ask for 100 reviews as the next goal, since I thought that was asking too much, even if it was only eight reviews away, since I've NEVER had more than 83 reviews for one story before. Then, just when I was finishing up this chapter, I looked over at the stats, and what did I see? 100 reviews. Right there. On the screen. 100 reviews, exactly.**_

_**I love you guys.**_

_**Seriously.**_

_***chokes* Y-You're so good to me...**_

_**Anyway... This chapter, I wanted it to be longer... yeah, that never happens. Sorry, guys. I'll work harder next chapter. So, again, I apologize for it being so damn short! T-T I'm a horrible author *sobs***_

_**The next review goal shall be... Eto, 120 reviews.**_

_**So, you'll most likely have your next chapter soon XD**_

_**Arigato~**_

_**~Scylar X.**_


	7. Cloud-watching

_**-Left Us Falling-**_

_**~Cloud-watching~**_

_Take a long, long look,_

_Everything's the same._

_Whether dark, alone, cold,_

_or lighter than the rain's flame._

_When you're surrounded by the storm,_

_it's comfort, in the eye, our sun, _

_And the clouds above roll freely._

_despite what the mist has done._

_But when the lightning flashes,_

_you will know you are safe._

_Dear, sweet, beloved sky,_

_no matter what weather clashes,_

_you accept._

Normally, Sagi wouldn't be one for wasting time. After all, he had a game to play, or rather, a "job to do." But when he came upon the small, slightly familiar town of Namimori on his way scouting out his Sky Ring heist, he just couldn't stop himself from taking a small tour.

Walking up and down the sidewalk, he came across a shop that made him smile. He sidled up to the somewhat dark-looking alley next to it and proceeded to watch the busy streets. Many people were throwing him glances, so he figured that a homeless five-year-old was kinda out-there for them. After all, it was a relatively small town.

"Oh! What's a little boy like you doing out here all alone?" A female voice exclaimed, and Sagi's now hidden eyes widened slightly as he was scooped up from the ground into arms of a person he did not know—being touched by a complete stranger he hadn't even seen yet was one of the few things that seriously irked him.

He began to struggle against the crushing embrace. "Ano... Let go!"

There was a squeal, and he was only held tighter. Sagi squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, hands tightening into fists. He began banging his tiny fists on the person that was holding him, and he was dropped to the ground. Sagi eyed the heavyset woman who was shaking her finger. "Hitting isn't nice, young-man—" He ignored the rest and began to back away until he was almost covered by the shadows of the alley.

Sagi chose to take advantage of the fact that they had gained a small crowd, and promptly burst into crocodile tears. Everyone paused, and the woman who had grabbed him immediately stopped lecturing him. They all gathered around him, and the woman knelt down frantically. "Oh, you poor dear, what's wrong?"

Sagi thought for a moment, still sniffling. "Mmm... O-otou-san gone." He hiccuped. "Can't find otou-san..."

He cast a sideways glance at them, to see many many pitying faces. "Aw, poor thing," another lady knelt next to him and hugged him to her chest. "Don't you worry. We'll help you find him!"

Wait, no. That wasn't what he wanted! Sagi began to get even more upset when he realized that the people wouldn't be leaving him anytime soon. And something happens when Sagi gets genuinely frustrated, something you should know.

The voices came back.

Sagi rubbed at his eyes, making sure to keep his hood up. His head was beginning to hurt, and his vision was getting darker with the coming nausea. He tilted forward, tripping over his own feet in an uncharacteristic moment of clumsiness. The group of people around him made small surprised noises, and the slim, pretty woman with blond hair that had her arms around him caught him before he could hit the ground.

"Oh dear..." She muttered, brows furrowed. A man knelt next to her. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"He just fell..." She leaned forward and sneaked a hand under the little boy's hood and placed it over his forehead. "Hm... Maybe he's sick?"

"We should take him to the hospital. Something's probably wrong with him." The man whipped out a cell phone and dialed the emergency hotline, but the device was instantly ripped from his grasp. The two adults turned in surprise.

"Gomen." The young school boy told them, snapping the phone shut and handing it back. "That's my little brother. He's just got a small cold—My parents were going to take him to the clinic today, but he got lost in the crowd while we was at the front desk of the pharmacy." He knelt down and scooped the tiny boy up into him arms, frowning. "There's no need to call the paramedics. He's fine, really. He just hasn't been getting enough sleep lately; up all night with the symptoms, you know?" The two adults nodded in understanding as the rest of the small crowd dispersed, sensing that the interesting part was over.

Hibari shifted the small child so that the young boy was on his hip, lifting a hand up to adjust the tiny boy's hood, making sure it was covering the child's face, though he didn't know why.

"Oh, I see." The woman spoke. The three stood up and dusted off their knees. "Well, I hope he feels better soon."

"That lady from before practically jumped him," The man said with distaste. "I wouldn't be surprised if the kid's traumatized, now."

"Some people need to keep to themselves." The woman agreed. Hibari watched silently as the two exchanged numbers and made an appointment for afternoon coffee, before bidding him farewell and continuing on their way. He glanced around before slipping into the alley unseen. He reached the end and leaned against the wall, sliding down until he was sitting with the unknown child in his lap. He felt slightly undignified for stalking a five-to-six-year-old child, but now he figured it was worth it. He bit the top-most finger of his glove and pulled it off with his teeth, then pressed his hand over the small child's closed eyes, making sure not to peek at his face—he knew the five-year-old wouldn't like that, somehow.

The older boy frowned even more when he didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. The boy didn't have a fever, nor was he clammy. The child's breathing was slightly hitched, but nothing else, really. Hibari thought for a second before deciding that the other boy was actually awake...

Hibari leaned forward and shook the child by the shoulders. "Herbivore, get up now." He ordered, then sat back and waited. When nothing happened, he frowned, and tried again. "Up. Now, or I will bite you to death."

The boy he'd been following for the past two hours didn't move a muscle.

**(Good luck, sucker~)**

"_What is that supposed to mean?" The man raised an eyebrow, and the child flinched._

"_N-Nothing..."_

"_Oi! What did I tell you? **What did I tell you?**" The thug raged to his partner, and the tiny little boy watched them curiously. "Huh? **I** said it wasn't going to work out, but what did you do? You went and did exactly what we agreed on not doing! Do you know what kind of—"_

"_I said shut up!" Said partner yelled, and the boy's eyes widened at the loud volume. Whoa, this guy could **yell!**_

"_No." He disagreed._

"_B-But you haven't even listened yet!"_

"_I don't need to. I said no. And when I say "no," I usually mean "no.""_

"_What will I do, what?"_

"_That's your decision."_

"_I'm only three!"_

"_So? What does that have to do with anything?"_

_The woman shifted and placed a hand on on his forehead. "For this to really work, though, you need to **forget**~"_

"_Craaaap." The man looked fearfully at his buddies with slumped shoulders, a knowing look in his eyes. "...Yeah. We're screwed."_

The child groaned slightly, orange eyes fluttering open. Someone was holding him tightly, but the arms quickly slackened when the person noticed he was awake. A young voice greeted him. "Herbivore."

"Sagi doesn't eat plants~" Sagi immediately responded with a smile, and he almost giggled at the other's pause.

Wait, that was a lie. Sagi did eat plants. Sagi wasn't a _vegetarian_. There. Truth.

"Sagi eats lots of things." Orange eyes peered up at his newest friend, taking in the older boys features. He looked about ten years old, maybe younger, and had slightly untamed black hair, and dark blue eyes. He wore a school uniform, the jacket hanging loosely from his small, lithe shoulders, and Sagi's sharp eyes caught a glint of silver from two hidden tonfas hidden from the world until it was too late for any of the boy's enemies. "Like dango! And tuna~ Mmm, Sagi loves dango. And tuna. Fishes are yummy. Sagi eats plants, too, but Sagi also eats cows. And pigs—pigs taste good, too. So that makes Sagi an..." The child searched for the right word. "Omnivore. Not a herb'vore."

The older boy stared at him silently, as if he was a ticking time bomb, and he was contemplating how to get rid of him. "Herbivore."

"Iie." Sagi shook his head. "Omnivore."

Blue eyes narrowed. "Herbivore."

"Omnivore~"

"_Herbivore_."

"Sagi isn't a vegetarian dinosaur!"

The boy eyes him apprehensively. "Hn."

Sagi giggled, as the boy sat back against the brick wall of the alley they were in. Sagi took a look at the busy street outside and concluded that it was the same alley as earlier.

"I don't like you, Herb...Omnivore." The boy spoke up, suddenly.

Sagi blinked owlishly up at him. "...Then... why is Sagi sitting on your lap?"

"Hn." The boy looked away, seemingly ticked off, but he made no move to push Sagi off from him. Sagi took that as an invitation to snuggle closer to the other, and the older boy shifted slightly so that they were both more comfortable. "What's Onii-san's name?"

"I am not your brother." The boy said flatly.

"That isn't what you told that nice lady~" Sagi sang, then frowned. "Sagi might be wrong, though. Sagi wasn't really listening, then. His head hurt too much."

"... Hn." The boy looked down. "You are not sick or injured."

"Yep!" Sagi grinned happily. "That's good. Sagi doesn't like being sick. Sagi can't play his games when he's sick."

"Then why were you asleep but still awake?" The boy inquired. Sagi looked up at him curiously. This boy seemed perceptive, if he caught that.

"Sagi isn't sure, but his Uncle told him that it was something to do with Sagi's brain." Sagi lifted a gloved hand and tapped his head, as if to emphasize his point. "Then, Oji-san said a lot of very long and fancy sounding words that Sagi didn't think about remembering." With that, Sagi cuddled back into the boy's chest. They sat like that for a few more minutes, until, "Hibari Kyoya."

"Hmm?" Sagi stirred sleepily, and the older boy stood, lifting the much smaller child up and placing him on his hip. "Hibari Kyoya. That's my name. Remember it, Omnivore."

Sagi yawned, and rested his head on the other's shoulder. "Hai. Sagi will remember."

**(Cuz no one really knows)**

Kyoya lived a relatively difficult life. His parents had been the average loving man and wife the first few years—almost the whole decade he'd been living—as Kyoya was only nine, now. But just last year was when things began to change. They'd adopted the three-month old Chinese infant, I-pin, and that was when things became strained. It started out as his parents needing a bit more money to feed, and clothe the extra body, but eventually the two adults started seeing more work than family. Soon, Kyoya was left home alone on a daily basis, sometimes for over weeks at a time, and he was the only one to care for the now year-old I-pin. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bring himself to blame his cute little sister.

He was the head of the Disciplinary Committee at his elementary school, which he'd founded when he's noticed the obvious lack of discipline on the grounds. The teachers and rest of the staff were a bit to scared of the boy to refuse. Kyoya was looked up to by his subordinates, but other than that, he had no true friends. He'd come to despise the people in Namimori, even his parents; all except I-pin. He cared for the town itself, but not the people in it.

So when Kyoya walked into his home with a slumbering Sagi on his hip, he was met with absolutely no objections. He closed the black iron gate behind him, entered the front door, and journeyed up the stairs until he reached the playroom that contained his sleeping sister. He clutched Sagi closer to him, and looked down into the crib at the tiny Chinese girl's face.

I-pin was almost one and a half, now. She had large, onyx eyes framed by long, dainty lashes. Her shoulder-length black hair was tied back with a purple bow, and she was dressed in her favorite pajamas, solid purple with borders of cartoon sushi on the sleeves, legs, and neckline. She was snuggling with her dear stuffed Angry Bird—the black one that served as a bomb in the game.

Kyoya reached a hand in and pulled the light blue blanket tighter around his sister, before walked across the room and lying down on the couch, hugging his cargo to his chest.

From what he gathered, omnivores were neutral, so he couldn't hate them, like he did with herbivores, or tolerate them like he did with the rare, yet-to-be-undiscovered-by-him carnivore. So the only other option, really, was to either ignore them altogether, or love them like family. And Kyoya knew from experience that it wasn't good to ignore anything, even herbivores. So he settled with... care.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep with his new little brother in his arms.

**(No one _ever_ really knows)**

Reborn fell back onto the bed and glared heatedly at the ceiling. Of course Sagi had left. The kid had job to do, seriously. He shouldn't be getting in Sagi's way. Everybody had jobs. Reborn had his hits, Sagi had his thieving. There was absolutely no reason for him to be thinking about Sagi's whereabouts—the kid could handle himself. Right? Right.

He rolled over, still scowling, and crossed him arms. The position was uncomfortable, but he could really care less.

_Right?_

**(Seriously. They don't _get_ you.)**

Kyoya woke up cold. He frowned, then let out a frustrated sigh when he realized he'd forgotten to cover himself with a blanket before falling asleep.

There was a crashing sound, and Kyoya was up on his feet with his tonfas in hand faster than a flash of light. He frowned when childish laughter rang throughout the house—he'd never heard that sound here before.

He slipped downstairs to the kitchen, and was just in time to see Sagi—the new brother he'd taken I last night—placing a plate of very good smelling food before his sister, who sat in her high chair, clapping her hands with a smile. They both looked up when the floorboard beneath Kyoya's feet creaked.

"Onii-san!" Sagi smiled happily. I-pin waved, grinning joyously.

"Big brover Kh-oya!" The girl shrieked, reaching over to him. Kyoya allowed a small smile to appear on his face before he schooled his emotions and walked over, sitting in the chair next to her. Instantly, a plate was placed on the table in front of him. He only picked up his fork and began eating. Sagi smiled, taking it all in stride and went back to the kitchen, coming out with his own plate, sitting next to Kyoya, and digging into the breakfast. Nothing felt any different to Kyoya at all, even though he was usually the one to make I-pin and himself every meal besides I-pin's lunch at day-care. It was like Sagi had been there the whole entire time.

"Onii-san doesn't like it here." Sagi said conversationally. Kyoya raised an eyebrow and cast him an inquiring glance, so the young child went on. "Kyoya-nii and little sister should come with Sagi to live with Mr. Reborn. Sagi thinks Kyoya-nii will like Mr. Reborn—Mr. Reborn is a... Hm, a carnivore." That interested Kyoya. He'd never met a carnivore yet, and if Sagi said so, then it was most likely true. Sagi didn't seem to be one that took things out of proportion.

"I have to look after the house for Mother and Father." Kyoya pointed out, and speared a section of his eggs on his fork before placing the food in his mouth.

Sagi shook his head, staring at him. "Mother and Father? Are they your parents, Onii-san, or are Mother and Father the away-workers?"

"Away-workers..." Kyoya mumbled, staring at the table. Sagi was right. His parents weren't his parents. In fact, he hadn't seen his parents for a month and a half, now. I-pin was beginning to get confused by the two strangers that acted like mommy and daddy, when they came to see them. Once, Kyoya had caught her calling him "Papa-Kyoya"—he was always quick to correct her, of course, so she settled for "big brother," but who really was the father here?

Sagi seemed to read his thoughts. "Daddies love their kids, and protect them, and read them stories when they tuck them into bed at nighttime, and play with them and teach them fun things. And mommies love their kids too. They cook them food, and clean them up when they get too dirty outside, and keep them warm when they're cold, and hug them when they wake up at night from bad dreams even if the mommy is very tired and wants to sleep." He peered up into Kyoya's deep blue eyes. "Sagi thinks that Kyoya is little sister's parent."

Kyoya sat still. He just realized it now, when Sagi had pointed that all out. He'd been acting as the parent for I-pin, since their real parents weren't ever there. He looked down at Sagi and smiled slightly. It wasn't his smirk, when he was outside of the house, but a real, upturn of the lips that signified that he was happy. This house didn't really hold any good memories anymore.

He looked over and saw that I-pin was done. He stood up and lifted the girl into his arms and started up the stars to get her dressed. I-pin giggled and reached up to tug on his shirt's collar, gurgling happily. Looking back, he called, "Otouto, please clear the dishes. I'll have I-pin and I packed after I get her dressed and write a note for those adults if they come home."

Sagi smiled.

**(Because some people are very difficult to understand, really.)**

_This chapter is dedicated to WinterGuardianAngel24. Make your wish soon!~_

_**Waaaaaah! I'M SORRY THIS CHAPTER TOOK SO LONG TO WRITE! Seriously T^T I tried multiple times to finish it these past few days, but... It's just... The **_**pain****_..._**

_**Okay, lemme start from the beginning. I just got my braces put in last Wednesday. OW. And now, the pain dru—medication I'm on.. The mix that I'm taking is making my stomach hurt like the devil's roasting marshmallows inside it—no joke. It's so uncomfortable. So I was typing last night, and I just stopped, since my stomach started acting up again, and I was all like "Waaaaaahhhhhh, the PAIN..."**_

_**So, yeah. My body is torturing itself. Nothing unusual there. But, anyway, here's your chapter1 I finally got around to adding Hibari in, and I now know what I'm going to do with I-pin and Lambo and all the other younger-than-Tsuna characters, like Fuuta, and such. Hope you guys are happy~**_

_**Oh, and sorry if you lot got confused when Sagi retorted to being called a Herbivore with saying he wasn't a vegetarian dinosaur. I learned about the whole Herbivore, Omnivore, Carnivore things using dinosaurs as an example when I was little, so I've always related the word "herbivore' with dinosaurs that were vegetarian. So...Yeah~**_

_**So, the next review count goal shall be 150. That's twenty reviews away, since we just hit 130.I'm sorry for the big number, but I need to give me time. Hopefully I'll feel better when the count reaches the goal this time, so I'll be able to just belt out chapter 8 and we'll all be happy. Cuz, I'm suffering over here XD**_

_**-_- But, with my luck, ,you guys will most likely continue to be totally awesome and generous, and we'll reach this goal by, like, tomorrow night, or something. Maybe I should up it to 155...**_

_***curls up under blankets* God, now I just wanna sleep, but my stomach is saying "FEED ME, FOOL!" So... Imma go make some ramen now. Love you all~**_

_**~Scylar X.**_


	8. Swimming in the Sky

_**-Left Us Falling-**_

_**~Swimming in the Sky~**_

"_Into my mind?!" His eyes widened._

_They nodded. He began to laugh._

"_Oh, no, no, no. I don't think you should go in there~"_

_She raised an eyebrow. "Is that a threat?"_

_He shook his head, an amused little smile stretching across his face. _

"_It's a **warning**."_

Reborn entered his room, and _stared_.

Okay, so he'd been doing a lot of work that day, you know, the usual. Breaking into people's houses, kicking their buckets—because we all know what that means, figuratively—raiding their fridges, and he was just so goddamned _tired_, so he decided that, when he finally—_finally—_returned to the Vongola base, he'd just go straight to his room and give his report to the Ninth in the morning.

So, back to where we were. Reborn was _staring_. In _italics_. Seriously.

Because, not only was there one small, innocent looking child in his room—honestly, he'd come to expect Sagi popping up all over the place at the most random of times, now—Oh no. No, there were _two_ children—wait! Let's see, what was that lump in his bed? Yes, _another_ child. So, unless he was missing any other tiny little buggers hiding somewhere in his cupboards or something, he had a total of three children under the tender age of ten currently lodging in his apartment.

"Sagi?"

"Sagi is listening, Mr. Reborn." That orange-hooded head popped out from behind the open refrigerator door.

"Who are your... friends?" Reborn raised an eyebrow and tried his ultimate best not to just collapse on the bed, ignore the painfully obvious stares of all—that tiny girl had woken up now—three children—_kids_. In _his_ apartment—and go to sleep, in favor of taking that well-deserved nap he'd been looking forward to to.

But Sagi beamed, and Reborn focused on him. "That is Sagi's new imouto and Onii-san."

Reborn blinked.

"... Alright then. Goodnight, Sagi. Glad to see you back so soon." With that, Reborn swept up the girl, who giggled excitedly, set her on the counter, stared at the boy sitting on the end of the bed for about three seconds in total, and then climbed under the blankets after kicking his shoes off and pulling his fedora over his eyes. He was out like a light in under half a minute. Really, if Sagi brought these brats here, then Reborn didn't really have any reason to worry, right?

Hibari continued to stare at "Mr. Reborn" for a few more seconds before turning to address his little brother with a raised eyebrow. "That is the carnivore?"

Sagi hummed happily, bobbing his head up and down. The child turned and continued to rummage through the contents of the fridge as I-pin giggled and crawled into the empty fruit bowl.

For some very odd reason unknown to him, Reborn had an extremely vivid dream about cartoon dinosaurs on a quest for magical bacon that night.

**(If I had a world of my own...)**

"You are a strange child." Verde commented.

Iemitsu sat on the ground, grasping his throat in pain. "Okay," he choked. "Okay. Okay. Okay. Wow." He cast a terrified glance at the orange-jacketed, tiny little figure that stood to their left with a serious look on what they could see of his face.

Apparently, Sagi didn't like being touched when he wasn't expecting it.

The toddler in question shrugged, then turned to walk toward his newly-dubbed older brother, Hibari Kyoya, who was standing off to the side. Anyone looking closely enough could see the proud look on the nine-year-old terror's face as he went over what had just happened. Sagi sent a nonchalant look back at the crowd who had gathered. "Gomen, Mr. Sawada. Sagi doesn't like to be surprised. Sagi doesn't take surprises too well."

They could see that. Seriously.

Reborn beamed as he let a gloved hand fall on his unofficial charge's shoulder. "Such a good boy," he teased lightly, eyes gleaming as he noticed the bruise that was beginning to form on Iemitsu's collarbone.

"Hai, hai!" Sagi brightened. "Sagi is always a good boy, Mr. Reborn!"

"Of course," The Italian man admonished himself, taking great pleasure in the betrayed look the head of the CEDEF sent him. "I believe that is correct." He turned toward Hibari, who was still observing Iemitsu's plight with a almost unnoticeable smirk. "What do you say, my fellow Carnivore, shall we depart for the canteen?"

Kyoya seemed to draw himself up at the veiled compliment from his new idol—though he'd deny it if anyone asked outright. Ever since Reborn had beaten the child in a spar against his tonfas without his own weapon on hand, Kyoya had began to look up to him. Not that he'd tell anyone that.

The raven-haired boy nodded. "Hai."

Sagi had reached them by now, and scooped the daydreaming I-pin up into his arms. "Ano, imouto. Are you hungry?"

I-pin giggled. "Ya, ya! Ha-! I-pin is wantin' food now!"

Sagi nodded in understanding. "Sagi does too, little sister. But," here, the child seem to gain a thoughtful look. "Sagi is always hungry, so he isn't too surprised."

The four made their way to the cafeteria, and sat down at a bench in the corner by a window. Sagi inhaled many sticks of dango, and was soon seen chasing a cackling I-pin, who was shouting for "'Ayato." Reborn, if he was anyone but Reborn, of course, might have been worried about the girl's slight love for bombs. But, he was Reborn, so he just rolled with it. Cuz he was Reborn. Duh. Cute little girls carrying bombs were an everyday thing for him. Well, not really, that was a lie. But nothing surprised Reborn Chaos except for Sagi the Phantom Thief. So, yeah. Reborn was used to things like this.

Sagi skidded to a stop as he reached a point directly in front of where the hitman was sitting, and cocked his head to the side as if listening to something no one but he could hear. A few seconds later, Sagi turned to Reborn and gave him a serious look. "Sagi wants to go out in the rain, Mr. Reborn."

Reborn blinked. "... But, it's sunny today."

Sagi nodded. "Hai."

Reborn stared at him for about two more seconds. "... So... Where would we get rain?"

Sagi titled his head, as if the answer was _so_ very obvious. "Fire."

Reborn continued to stare at the child, before nodding his head _very_ slowly. Sometimes he just didn't _get_ Sagi. Like, at all. "Ah... Okay."

Sagi sent him a serious look, before nodding back and continuing to chase I-pin. Reborn finished his meal and stood up. He had a meeting to attend. _Yay_. He bit back a groan and bid farewell to the three children who he _didn't_ care about, at all, really, _truly_, honestly, he _didn't_, of course, and walked out of the canteen with that graceful, deadly stride of a hitman.

Sagi could be seen laughing behind his back. Not that anyone knew what he was laughing at.

**(Everything would be nonsense.)**

Trident Shamal was one easily distracted, yes. But that was only when beautiful women were around. And this meeting happened to be filled to the brink of men, and men only. So please pardon his subordinates if they were slightly confused when he seemed so, completely, utterly _not_ paying attention. At all.

"Shamal," The Ninth raised an eyebrow. "Care to share with us what has you so distracted?"

The doctor blinked, as if coming out of a trance, and Reborn held back a snicker. How very cliché. Shamal looked at all of them with an amused expression on his face. "Yeah. Fire."

Reborn stilled. Fire... Wasn't that what Sagi had said only half an hour before?

Everyone else was just as confused, perhaps less so, however. They began to look around and peered out of windows, but looked back at Shamal with perplexed faces. "Fire? I don't even see smoke..." One man said.

"What do you mean?" Reborn inquired.

"That's what Yūkan called it." Shamal explained, which didn't lighten anything up. "He said it was fire, but I know it wasn't. It was flames. And he used it. A pretty orange color, even more orange than the Ninth's, I thought."

They understood slightly better now. "A... sky Flame, correct?" The Ninth spoke, slightly amazed. "Who is this Yūkan?"

Shamal raised an eyebrow. "What? You all know him. That adorable little thief."

"Sagi?" Reborn interjected. "Of course. I'd forgotten you had given each other nicknames. Yours was, what... Doctor-akuto? Was it?" Reborn smirked, and Shamal had the decency to at least look slightly flustered at the snickers from the other men.

"So, Sagi has the Sky Flame?" The Nono asked, surprised.

Shamal nodded. "He's rather smart, too. He lit the dynamite with it while we played that Exploding Paper Plane game with Hayato-kun..."

"Interesting method." One of the other men admired the simple genius, before turning to one of his associates. "I'd like to meet Sagi, wouldn't you?"

The other nodded. "He sounds rather fascinating."

Reborn narrowed his eyes slightly. Sagi was a child, a person. Not a thing. For some odd reason he was unable to comprehend, he felt that feeling—protectiveness-swell up inside of him now. Too bad his mouth did too. "Well, that's all well, but I'm afraid you won't have the pleasure of introducing yourselves."

Everyone turned to him in surprise and question. Reborn cursed his mouth. It usually stayed shut when he wanted it to. He mentally sighed, and went about answering their inquiring glances. "Sagi is currently on a j... I mean, he's "playing a game."" He used air quotes, which raised some eyebrows, but everyone knew about Sagi's childish personality, which Reborn didn't really find all too surprising, since Sagi _was_ a child. "For the Vongola. Finding something we..." Reborn tilted his fedora forward. "Hm. _Lost_."

"I'll be able to meet him when he has finished, though." The man commented, confused.

_No you won't._ Reborn hissed in his mind. He sensed nothing well from this guy. He seemed to want to use Sagi for himself. Like hell Reborn would allow that. On the outside, he waved a hand dismissively. "Sagi is..." He pondered for the right word. "He's different. I don't think you'll be meeting him unless he wants you to. That's how he works."

Luckily, the Nono interjected before the man could retort. "Reborn has spent to most time with Sagi than the rest of us." The boss of the Vongola explained. "I believe he understands him slightly better then we do."

"Understand him?" Reborn let out a snort of amusement. "No one can understand Sagi but Sagi, my friends. No, I've just uncovered some of his more interesting quirks." He leveled a stare at the man from before. "Trust me on this, though. If Sagi wants it, he'll find you."

And that was the end of it. He'd tell Sagi later to stay away from this guy—though, he was sure Sagi already knew to, though he didn't know how.

**(Nothing would be as it is,)**

Sagi frowned and tilted his head to the side again, stopping mid-conversation with Hayato, who looked at him quizzically. "Otouto-sama? Is something wrong?"

Sagi shook himself out of some sort of stupor and smiled that same, almost detached smile he always wore. Now that Hayato thought about it, it was slightly unsettling. "Iie, iie. Sagi is just waiting."

Hayato titled his head to the side even more. "Waiting? Waiting for what?"

Sagi healed a finger to his lips and the other boy leaned forward as if the thief was sharing some type of long-kept secret. "Rain."

**(Because everything would be as it isn't.)**

"Are you sure this is okay?" He asked his friend as they slipped under the barbed fence, careful to keep far from the wires.

The sandy blond looked at him as if he was a child much much younger than him, though the two were the same age of six. "Of _course_ it is, Yamamoto-san." He snickered. "Oh, don't tell me you're getting cold feet! No one will even notice, ne? You're not a chicken, are you?"

The blue-eyed child shook his head so fast he may have gotten whiplash. "N-no! Of course not! Why would I be... scared?" Takeshi cast a nervous glance toward the building they were approaching. It was a huge cement structure, and it loomed far over head, so tall it almost blocked the full moon out of sight and mind. He ran a cautious eye over the dead and dying vegetation, suddenly feeling as if he was walking straight into one of those scary horror movies his late-aunt always used to watch. The kind that made him bury himself under his blankets at night and try to block out the screams of fear and terrifying noises so he could sleep without nightmares.

His friend—though, Takeshi was having second thoughts about that status. No one else had been a true friend for him, why would this one be any different? He was finding himself become less and less sure about this. Really, what kind of friend taunted and bullied you into doing something you didn't want to, even to prove yourself? Takeshi was beginning to think he didn't want to prove himself(he didn't even need to prove himself to this fake anyway!)—crossed his arms and sent him a triumphant look, and Takeshi felt himself deflate. That's right. He was too weak to stand up to people like these. He always seemed to run into them too. Wasn't there anyone out there who just wanted him for him? Because he was him? "Good. Had me worried there for a sec." Takeshi wondered why all these "friends" of his tried so hard to talk like the big kids did. Didn't they want their childhood? Why was everyone around him so eager to grow up?

"Now let's do this." The blond grinned excitedly and they crawled through the crack in the cement wall of the supposedly haunted old city prison.

**(Contrary wise,)**

Sagi sat on the bench with s small frown adorning his face. There was something happening to a weather, something wrong. He felt tears begin to cloud his eyes, and they spilled over and trickled down his face when he blinked. Hayato's eyes widened in alarm. "O-Ootouto-sama? What's—why are you crying? What happened? Is something wrong?!"

Sagi turned to him, shoulders starting to tremble, and Hayato frowned, starting to get scared. What was it? Why was his amazing little brother crying now? He slid forward and pulled the shaking child into a hug, and Sagi lurched forward to wrap his own arms around Hayato's small torso, burying his face into his chest. "H-hai!"

"What is it?! What's wrong?!" Hayato said, louder, and Sagi trembled even more, starting to sob hysterically. Hayato felt tears springing in his own eyes now. He heard footsteps hurrying toward them, most likely alerted by the sound of his panicked shout. Reborn rounded the corner, and his eyes widened behind his sunglasses at the sight of Sagi crying like that. He quickly ran over and knelt down in front of the bench, putting one hand on Sagi's shoulder and the other on Hayato's. He slipped off his sunglasses and met the older child's stormy green eyes. "Hayato-kun. What happened?"

Hayato began to tear up even more when Sagi didn't even seem to register that Reborn was there. "I-I-I don't kn-know..." He sucked in a deep breath, trying to stay calm. "W-We were just talking, ,a-and then Otouto-sama just stopped, and then he looked upset, a-and then he started to cry, h-he said something's wrong, b-but I don't knew what's wrong! Mr. Reborn, what's wrong?" He pleaded.

Reborn turned toward Sagi with something that looked like concern shining in his eyes. He brought his hands down on both of the little thief's shoulder's. "Sagi, what's wrong. Talk to me."

"It's wrong! The rain!" Sagi gasped, shaking his head, horrified by something. "The rain, no! Iie! No! No, no no! Iie, iie! Rain, stop! It's wrong, don't!" The child dissolved into tears again, shaking is head back and forth repeatedly, crying out for the rain to stop doing _something_.

Reborn and Hayato shared absolutely perplexed glances before turning back to Sagi. "Sagi, tell what is wrong with the.. rain." Reborn spoke, gently, almost surprising Hayato—but the boy was far too concerned with his idol to notice completely.

Sagi lurched forward to clutch at Reborn's jacket, burying his face in the fabric. "_N-No_..."

**(What it is,)**

Takeshi followed closely behind the other boy as they sneaked down the stone halls of the prison. He watched nervously as the cells passed by, old, barely-there numbers in black paint glinting in the moonlight that shone through the tiny, barred windows in side them—the only light besides the eerie orange-ish glow that they were heading too. The other kid—as Takeshi now referred to him as, since he was certain he wasn't a friend now—seemed tense, and Takeshi could sense fear rolling off of him in soft waves. He was confused—if the other kid was afraid as he was, why were they even here? They shouldn't be, as Takeshi knew for sure that this _wasn't_ really okay, after he had spent part of their journey thinking on it. This was trespassing, against the law. They weren't supposed to be here...

The yellow light drew closer as they walked deeper into the prison, and Takeshi had a long-lingering doubt that maybe the prison wasn't truly _haunted_ by the undead or restless spirits after all.

**(It wouldn't be.)**

Sagi shivered, dread filling his small chest. This shouldn't happen. "Don't listen, Rain. The rain shouldn't be listening, the rain shouldn't have listened to the liar." He whimpered. "P-poor, poor rain, Sagi feels so empty now..."

Reborn was extremely concerned. "Sagi," he was becoming to sound more forceful now, and the tiny little phantom thief drew into himself. "What's happening to the rain?" The hell cares about the fact that he didn't know who or what the rain _was_. It seemed to be hurting Sagi, and he wanted it _gone_. "Tell me now."

Sagi trembled, clutching his jacket tighter, and Hayato hugged the other from behind. Reborn frowned as he caught sight of the glow of Sagi's eyes, that shone through the shadows of his hood. The orange of it was an impossibly light shade, as if Sagi's eyes were glazed.

"Don't go any further." Sagi whispered. "Don't, don't. No, _stop_."

**(And what it wouldn't be...)**

Takeshi was backed up into a corner, cement walls met just at his back. The other kid was gripping onto his hand for deal life, and he appeared to be resisting the rather painful urge to scream his lungs out. For some reason, though, Takeshi didn't feel himself as scared as the other kid. He was frightened, of course, but... calm? That was weird. He shoved those thoughts to the back of his young mind. It was the time to focus on more important things. Like the very evil looking ex-inmate who was slowly approaching them with a blade rolling between the callused finger of his right hand. He really wished he had his sword right now. Even if it was only bamboo, since his papa wouldn't let him wield a real blade yet. It was still a weapon, in the very least.

Well, it looks like he was right after all. The old city prison _wasn't_ haunted. By ghosts.

**(It would.)**

Sagi screamed, and Reborn and Hayato almost jumped out of their skins. Footsteps thundered, and people raced out of the doorways and other parts of the building, stopping in their tracks when they set eyes on the hysterical Sagi.

Sagi sobbed. "Too late, it's too late." He bit back a pained whimper. "The rain was found."

**(You see?)**

_This chapter is dedicated to Moonpuzzle. I think. I'm pretty sure. I kinda got sidetracked, and forgot. ^ ^' I'm so smarts..._

_**I am very very very very SO many verys sorry for the longer than usual wait! I... Okay, I has no excuse o-o Really. I was lazy. I had this document open for, what, days now? And... I just didn't feel like writing after my stomach started feeling better. And then I found the amazing wonders of the Harry potter-Lord of the Rings crossover section. And then I flew off to fic-reading land, never to write again, until, I had the sudden inspiration of... yes, you got it. ANGST! The savior of any fics. Oh, how we authors and readers alike love you, dear angst. So, yeah, that was Takeshi Yamatoto, swordskiddo extraordinair. He's been a ad bad boy, breaking the law at the tender age of six. Now he's cornered by a evil looking criminal man, what's to happen to him now? O.o**_

_**As for Sagi, well... i've had a lot of my reviewers talk of expecting a break down, and I can't help but agree. Breakdowns are fantastic. I love them., Totally good torture—cough! I-I mean, totally great story material *smiles innocently with hands behind back* Yeah... That...**_

_**Anyway, Hoped you liked this chapter, I am again sorry for the wait. My mind is plagued by muses of making our sweet, trouble magnet, dear Harry get tortured, die a painful death, then awaken in Middle Earth as an adorable, angst-filled abused, little elfling. I'm sorry. I can't help it ^ ^'**_

_**ANYway, the new review goal shall be... 170. That HAS to be high enough to at least me a FEW days to think on what I want to happen next. Because, frankly, you guys are blowing my brain apart here. I was right. You reached the last goal not even a DAY after that chapter was posted. *wails* G-Give me some time, people! Stretch me thin, will ya? Maybe that was why you had to wait two weeks for this chapter, eh? Wait, has it been that long? I don't remember...**_

_**Oh crap. SCHOOL! I totally forgot that. I have to do my schoolwork. Dang it. Homeschooling yourself is NOT the thing for ADHD, OCD teenage girls tortured by puberty to do. Honestly. The distractions. Oh, the **_**distractions****_..._**

… _**Plus, I need to do schoolwork, or I'll be kicked out of this totally awesome little program I've been in, and I'll have to go to a... *shudder* a **_**public ****_high school next year. A big public high school. With lots of other people. And totally half-assed teachers. And I'll have to be... social. Oh, god, the _horror...**

_**Anyway. 170. Was that right? Yeah, 170 reviews. See you all next time!**_

_**Love you~**_

_**~Scylar X.**_


	9. Run, Shadow, Run

_**-Left Us Falling-**_

_**~Run, Shadow, Run~**_

_Twisting and turning, _

_and spinning and churning._

_This feeling inside me_

_is climbing higher to be,_

_yet another found there,_

_deep in my painful sea._

_You could say—_

_nothing's withering,_

_whispering,_

_chivalry,_

_gathering,_

_ripping and tearing_

_at the nothing that's there._

_Hissing and screeching,_

_clawing and screaming._

_Something there, maybe,_

_but no one knows what._

Six-year-olds are not meant to bear witness to certain things in this world. True, many are pushed to grow up faster than life would want them to, but there is almost a unwritten rule for those younger than ten and such. Things they are not to hear, are not to see, are not to do. Things they should not have to bear on their little weakened shoulders. And yet, despite this unnatural agreement within the universe, things will happen, words will sound, scenes will play out, and these children will be true children no longer.

There are such levels of a burden the children that have seen, heard, done, bore witness to, will bear. A light burden is common, yes, but there is also that heavy burden no child should even consider to be real—this is the burden a six-year-old, somewhere out there in the big, wide world full of trickery, and devils, and whispering evils, is now holding on his shoulders.

It seems the rain is weighed down with dreary foreshadowing this night.

**(There's ticking and toking)**

Takeshi wrung arm of the teddy bear he held in his hands. Things like this, they weren't suppose to happen in real life, right? All that stuff was only suppose to be in the TV. There's no way a body could hold that much blood, there's no way blood was really that red, really that sticky. There's no way people were this evil, no way they could do something like this. There's no way _murdering_ could actually happen, right? That only happened in the cop shows, right? There's no way his daddy could be dead just now, right? Right? Takeshi felt a sob climbing up his throat, but he held it back and shut his eyes tightly. He couldn't make a sound, or that bad man that he and the Other Kid found at the old city prison would find him.

He and the Other Kid were cornered by the inmate at the "haunted" prison. The man was very scary-looking. He had stringy light brown hair that didn't look very healthy. It hung limply down to just above his shoulders, and a shirt beard that ended just at the bottom of his chin. There was a mad glint of messed up humor in his dark, glimmering black eyes, and a long, red scar started at the middle of his forehead and curved alone the eyebrow, down the side of his temple and across his cheek to disappear behind his ear. The tip of his ear, the right one, was cut of too. It was like someone had tried to stick a knife into his forehead, but the man had ducked to the left. Takeshi was beginning, now, to wish the man hadn't ducked.

He killed the Other Kid. He'd taken a staple gun and filled the Other Kid's chest full of nails. The Other Kid could scream very loudly—Takeshi had a feeling that he wouldn't ever make any kind of vocal noise ever again, though.

Takeshi had run. There was a large hole in the wall, in the corner where they'd been back into. While the inmate had been laughing as the Other Kid's screams died off into a wet gurgling noise, Takeshi had whipped his hand out of the death grip the Other Kid had had it in—it had loosened when the first nail hit—and he'd dashed off into the whole. It wasn't until half a minute later, when he'd been just entering the parking lot outside, again, feeling slightly safer but still terrified, when he'd began to hear the angry shouts of the inmate, who'd just noticed he wasn't there anymore.

He'd thought he was safe when he got home. He ran to his father's room and woke the man up, choking and sobbing. He hadn't been able to even get the story out when the front door banged open with a loud crash. The two Yamamotos froze. Takeshi had felt like he could barely move. His dad had given him a look, told him not to go anywhere, grabbed on of the many katanas that hung around the house, and slipped downstairs. He never came back up again.

When the inmate—because that's who the intruder was. He'd followed Takeshi home—started coming up the stairs, Takeshi had bolted out of the room, and hid, stock still, as the inmate entered. Then he'd run downstairs, and had tried his best not to scream.

Even after all that skill his father had had in swordsmanship, he was dead.

That was when Takeshi swore on his own life and the up-coming grave of his father—he would _not_ be buried with him, he _would_ live—that he would be a better swordsman, ,that he wouldn't be killed by _anything_. Not like his father had.

**(and banging, that clocking)**

Sagi wouldn't stop trembling. He clung to the front of Reborn's jacket, hands shaking, visible half of his face chalk-white. His glowing orange eyes were still that bright, glazed shade that told you he wasn't all there anymore, and tears dripped off the edge of his chin.

Everyone was puzzled at what could have frightened him so terribly.

But all he would say was, "The rain, poor rain, the rain's all alone."

It was Shamal who first thought of a possibility.

"Sagi has a different way of thinking than we do..." He mused aloud, and caught the attention of Reborn, who was trying his best at calming the five-year-old down, and Nono and Iemitsu, who were trying to help him. "He talks about fire, and always called Hayato-kun's attitude stormy, ne? Now he's going on an d on about the rain, who is in trouble." The doctor raised an eyebrow at them, as if prompting them to actually think.

Reborn was the second person . He blinked behind his sunglasses and held Sagi tighter. "We know the "fire" is Flames... Sagi told me that he could fly if he wanted to, a while ago, I thought it was a joke, but maybe that was his way of telling me he had Sky Flames..."

Nono caught on quickly after that, while Iemitsu was still left in the dark, absolutely confused. "And we all know Hayato has flames, too, and the potential to be a Storm guardian..." Reborn and the Nono's eyes widened, and they snapped their heads around to look at each other. "Maybe Sagi's talking about a potential rain guardian?"

Shamal rocked back on his heels and sucked in a breath. "If he is, then that potential is in serious trouble."

"How can Sagi know, though?" Nono almost pleaded, looking panicked.

"Who knows?" Shamal shrugged. "As Reborn said, the only person who can understand Sagi is Sagi himself. So, as I was saying, why don't we ask Sagi?" The four adults turned to the trembling thief.

Nono knelt down in front of Sagi and Reborn, and gently pried the small hand from the hitman's jacket to hold them in his own. Sagi choked down a sob and hiccuped, looking up at him with wide orange eyes.

"Sagi," Non began gently. "...Do you know where the rain is? Maybe we can help him..."

Sagi sucked in a sharp breath, and his eyes widened even more. In the background, Hayato was arguing with Dino, wanted to go back and help his little brother. Sagi withdrew into himself. "Iie. It's too late. Nothing can save the rain now..." he sounded to be void of all hope, his tone empty and hurt. It hurt Reborn to hear it, but he, Nono, and Shamal had all heard that other tone before as well. That tone that told them Sagi was lying to himself.

"No, Sagi." Nono tried again. "You know that's not true. Sagi, you need to tel us where the rain is."

Sagi's eyes teared up again. "S-Sagi wanted to see the rain earlier, but no one said "okay," so Sagi couldn't go anywhere. Sagi has a g-game to play, right now. Sagi can't stopped playing u-until the game is over. B-But Sagi knew th-the rain was in trouble, so Sagi tried a-asking, but nobody a-answered Sagi..."

Reborn froze. "..._Oh_. Shoot." he bit his lip in an uncharacteristic sign of worry. "_That's_ what he meant."

Shamal and Timoteo shot him a look before turning back to Sagi. The Nono continued. "And I'm sorry, Sagi. Reborn and I weren't sure what you were talking about, so we couldn't answer properly."

Sagi bowed his head again and shook it sadly. "Now it's too late for the rain. Poor Rain..."

"No,"Sagi." Nono stressed, and Sagi looked up. "It's not too late. If we hurry, we can helped the rain, ne? But you need to tel us where the rain is, first."

Sagi was silent for a few minutes, and everyone who'd crowded into the corridor held their breath. The tiny little thief stared up at the Ninth with contemplating eyes, which shifted over to Reborn every now and again. Finally, the child seemed to have come to a decision. Sagi slipped his hand out of the Nono's and wrapped his arms around Reborn's neck, peering back over his shoulder at the Vongola boss.

"... It's raining in Japan now. But rain is good at hiding, so maybe if we hurry very very fast, we can get there before the bad man kills the rain." Sagi seemed to send them all a stern glance. "And rain bleeds very fast. So fly quick. Quick."

**(It's writhing and squirming,)**

Takeshi knew that if he could escape the house silently and get to a different one, then maybe he'd have a chance to phone the police. But he knew that his sneaking skills were on par with that of an elephants, so the mere hope was pretty futile. He was starting to wish he'd played in more of those mass hide-and-seek games in the dark that all of the other children had played during night festivals and such, but it was too late for that.

He clutched his teddy bear to his chest and crept out from under the table, casting covert glances around the kitchen. At least he was downstairs. Now there was no chance of him making any stairs creak that would alert the inmate that was prowling the house with that malicious smile on his face. "Come out, come out, little boy~" The inmate sang in a gravelly voice that sounded like someone was scraping two sharp pieces of wood together. "Come, let's finish playing "Shoot the Ducky~"

Out of the corner of his eye, Takeshi caught site of the katana his father had been holding not fifteen minutes earlier, when he was last alive. It was a battle-type katana, in good condition., He'd spent many nights watching his father care for it. His daddy had told him that he'd used it, when he was young, in fights and spars and tournaments. Then, before bedtime, he'd show Takeshi in slow movement his own special sword style, that had won him many matches. Looking back, Takeshi found that he could recall every single movement his father had displayed. If he practiced for a few years, he could recreate the style...

He grabbed the katana on his way out of the room and held it to his chest, right next to his teddy bear.

**(steps pitter-pattering,)**

Non decided they would use his privet jet, since it would be the safest and fastest route to Japan. This way, they'd get to the location Sagi had revealed early the next morning. It was just nearing 10:00 PM. Sagi seemed to be calm once again, so they decided not to loose any hope, in saving whom they now chose to call "Rain."

On the flight, Sagi would occasionally let out simple comments that sent them on journey's deep into their mind, trying their best to come up with answers that the child's riddles provided. To Sagi, the words seemed perfectly clear, but the rest of them were thrown through a loop, Reborn only having slightly better luck, since he had a pretty messed up mind too.

"The sun's I-pin should stay, perhaps." Sagi once told them thoughtfully after waking up from a small nap. After a few hours of pondering this, the three adults, plus Hibari—and Hayato, Dino, and Bianchi, who'd demanded their way in(well, Hayato had, and Bianchi had followed, leaving Dino little choice), decided that, maybe, the potential sun guardian of Sagi seemingly growing group had a little sister that would live with them as well, when the sun guardian arrived. To Nono, the arrival seemed to be inevitable. Sagi was taking over the Vongola, it seemed. Everyone loved him, anyway.

Then, Sagi had a nightmare, which woke him once more. He sat bolt upright, startling Bianchi who's been leaning over him slightly when she'd noticed him thrashing. Sagi looked up at all of them, looking almost scared, but strangely calm. He nodded, seeming to assure himself of... something. "The rain has it's edge, now. Everything will be okay. Everything will be okay, if the rain is quick and quiet. The rain is very good at hiding, but the rain doesn't think that he is. The rain needs to believe that he can hide, and then everything will be okay." They all looked at one another.

"Hn." Hibari said.

**(glowing eyes leering)**

He could see the sun starting to rise over the hill that rose up at the end of the street and he cast a quick look out the window. Strangely, the inmate hadn't found him, but still kept searching, so Takeshi was forced to move around a lot, which endangered him at being found more than it would if he found a good place and stayed put. Actually, both had chances of him being found, but one appeared to be safer than the other. At least, it was working.

Takeshi wasn't sure why the inmate—he'd decided to call him Con, and blamed it on the lack of sleep—was so persistent in finding him. All he'd done was follow the Other Kid into his hide out in the old prison. It wasn't like he'd killed his grandma or anything. Actually, that seemed like something Con himself would do. After a few hours of thinking on it, though, Takeshi decided that Con's mind wasn't all... there, and left it at that. Hopefully he'd be free soon, though. He wanted to be safe. He wanted somewhere he could curl up and cry his heart out at everything that had happened. This frightening game of Hide-and-Go-Seek/Kill was grating on his last wits. It was taking so so long. He wanted to scream, cry, beg Con to just leave, but that would get him absolutely no where. Well, it would. It would end this, but then he'd be dead, and the vow he'd made last night would mean nothing. He couldn't have that.

But he was getting so tired. An hour before, he'd caught himself in a slight stumble. Someone his age wasn't suppose to go without sleep for so long. He wouldn't last much longer...

"—_The rain is very good at hiding, but the rain doesn't think that he is. The rain needs to believe that he can hide, and then everything will be okay." _Takeshi froze at the young, bright voice that echoes through his mind. It had a slight echo to his, and he had a feeling that it wasn't heard by his ears, though it was a sound. It had a tone, though. That it knew. It knew what was happening, what was going on. It knew. And it was coming to him, soon.

Help...

Takeshi stilled in his hiding place as he heard Con approaching. That tell-tale cackle of morbid glee and the _slurching_ sound that the man's boots made as they waded slightly through the puddles of blood that ran across the lobby room's floor.

He had to listen to what the voice said, and the tone of the words helped that. B_elieve that you can hide, and then everything will be okay. _Who cared who the rain was? He should believe that he could do it, and he would be able to. Isn't that what his father always told him, anyway? How could he forget? And this new feeling, that help was coming to him soon, if only he could stick through it a while longer...

It was a good thing his families compound was so big, then.

Takeshi slipped away from the west wing, and headed in the opposite direction of where Con was heading.

**(all signs that are showing,)**

Sagi looked out the window of the jet and saw the approaching coastline of Japan in the far-off distance. He reached up a gloved hand and touched the cold surface of the window, the glow of his orange eyes reflecting back at him off of the glass. "Believe, Rain. Sky is coming for you, with Storm and Cloud. Believe. Everything will be okay."

**(Of a thousand lives passed.)**

_This chapter is dedicated to otaku908_

_See what I did there, Tigger? I used that hide-and-seek idea of yours, just not in the original plan we were texting about. I've decided to do something else for that part of the story, hope you don't mind~_

_**Oh my god. You people! Let me rest, sleep, eat, live! T^T One day. No! Not even one day. LESS than one day, and you all are already at the review goal. Good lord...**_

_**I shouldn't really be complaining. I should be ecstatic. I am ecstatic. I'm on Cloud Nine. Okay, I'd be on Cloud Nine if I had an A in Science and all my classes were caught up, but noooo, my brain just HAS to be influenced by the ADHD in me, and DISTRCTTION! DISTRACTIONS EVERYWHERE!**_

_**Okay, off topic there, sorry.**_

_**New review goal, 222. HA!~ take that, eager readers. I shall finally have my time of peace, now! You shall never reach **_**that****_ count of reviews in under one day! You shall not! Mwahahaha!_**

_**-cough- Um, okay... yeah... I really don't have anything else to say. Except... I'M SORRY, TAKESHI! I.. I just needed to get rid of your dad so you could live with Sagi... it's not my fault, blame the muse, BLAME THE MUSE! -cowers under bed- **_

_**But, seriously. I love Takeshi, I really so. He's one of my favorite characters, and—**_

_**OH SHIT! I totally forgot about his baseball obsession. Ah well, I'll figure out something later XD**_

_**Anyway, enjoy~**_

_**As always, I love you all, keep up the awesome reviews! More than three constructive sentences, please. These less than five word reviews are driving me absolutely batshit insane ^ ^' Heh~**_

_**Thank you,**_

_**~Scylar X**_


	10. Homeward Rains

_**-Left Us Falling-**_

_**~Homeward Rains~**_

_Lost in darkest blue—  
Endless labyrinths weaving through.  
Will you stagger on,  
with no star to light your way?  
Share with me your tears,  
All your troubles and deepest fears  
I remember when  
you chased all my shadows away..._

Takeshi slid down against the wall of the alley that separated the main house from the many sheds of the compound. He turned his head and his lips turned up in a slight, nervous smile. He could see all of the sun, now, it's golden rays splaying out across the streets. People were beginning to stir, and he knew it was only a matter of time before the person who had spoken to him would get there.

All throughout the restless, tiring night of Hide-And-Go-Seek-Kill, that small, reassuring voice whispered words of comfort and encouragement into his mind, urging him to not give up, to keep going, stay away from Con. Of course, the voice never said any of that, truthfully—the words were confusing, and Takeshi spent precious seconds of his time to puzzle out their meanings, but when he did he always felt slightly better than before, and he kept on, away from the inmate. He stayed far away from the room his father lay in, however. He knew the moment he stepped back into there to see all of the red, and his daddy so pale, he'd lose it, and everything would be over.

But the voice kept whispering, and Takeshi kept on. _"Believe, Rain. Believe."_

**(Won't you take my hand,)**

Sagi tightened his grip on Natsu, who crowed nervously. The others in the jet turned to him when they felt the tension in the air suddenly double. Sagi tipped forward, jumping up and crawling forward on his knees to peer out of the window. They were just over Japan, now.

"Otouto-sama?" Hayato questioned.

"It's almost there, almost time, we're almost there. Rain's being very slippery," he sent them all a proud smile.

"What will happen when we get there?" Bianchi questioned, scooting closer to the tiny thief. The adults listened in on their conversation intently, hoping to glean more information.

Sagi gave them a mysterious smile, holding a finger to his lips, much like he'd done only hours before, when this all had started. Hayato recognized the motion and sat back. Something big was going to happen, that's what.

"We'll save the rain. And the rain will save all of us, in turn. Just wait."

At that moment, even though he was six—or five—they could all fully believe that Sagi was well beyond his years in knowledge, and wisdom.

"Then we can all play games!" Sagi grinned. "And Sagi will win _all_ of them." With that, he turned around to face the window once again, observing the passing lands below with unmeasurable glee.

Though, sometimes, it was hard to see it.

**(Come away with me from this land,)**

It started out as a feeling, which then grew into a hope. Which then grew into a quiet thought, which then grew into a quiet word. And then that word grew louder and louder, until Takeshi was shouting at the top of his lungs—even though his brain was telling him to shut up and hide, his heart was telling him that it was time to draw attention to himself. Even though he didn't know why—help was coming now, he could feel it. "_Help!_"

"No help coming now, ah-ha!" Con cried gleefully, ripping the tablecloth off of the table. "Found you, duckling!"

Takeshi felt his blood freeze. He scrambled out from under the table and dashed out of the room. It wasn't Hide-And-Seek anymore. Now it was a morbid form of Chase. Only one game to go, Tag, until he was dead.

His mind was telling him, though, that this was good, now. Somewhere out there, the sky was calling for him. To build himself up, build his endurance.

**(Let me give to you,)**

"Here!" Sagi shouted out suddenly, causing them all to jump and whirl around to face him as he pointed wildly at the area of land below them. "There, there is the Rain, there!"

Hibari peered out of the window and his eyes widened slightly. "_Namimori_? Weren't we just here, though? Otouto?" Hayato sent the nine-year-old a smoldering look, but stayed quiet to hear the answer.

Sagi glanced at them from the corner of his eye, but didn't turn. "Hai, hai. Sagi knows the rules of the game, though. No rushing things, because then you won't know how to play, and you can't have any fun. But now Rain knows how to play, so he can join in the game too!"

They decided their brains had had enough for one morning, and decided not to ponder that. Well, everyone but Reborn, who mentally cackled with glee and he latched on to the new riddle. He loved the way Sagi thought!

Nono went up into the cockpit to tell the pilot to find somewhere near the pace Sagi had indicated to land, then rejoined them in time to latch his seat belt as the jet began to descend. Sagi giggled happily as Reborn nimbly helped with his seat belt before latching himself in. Only minutes later did they land, and Sagi shot out of the jet like a bullet from a rifle.

"Sagi, wait!" Reborn caught up to the tiny thief, who could run surprisingly _quickly_, and picked him up. The hitman gave the child a look before looking around them. They were by an abandoned theme park. "Where to?"

Sagi sent him a cheeky smile, and pointed in the direction of Namimori. The other's caught up with them just as they left the woods. Bianchi tightened her grip on her babysitter's hand, and Dino sent her a nervous smile. His clumsiness suddenly disappeared as the group turned onto a street of houses in time to hear shouting.

"_Help, help!_" Came a young voice. It cracked with weariness, and The Ninth felt a pain in his heart. Then, they heard another voice.

"_No help now, duckling! Come, let's end the game_!" This voice cracked as well, but instead of fear and tiredness, it was filled with madness, glee—broken with insanity. Both voices, however, sounded breathless. They felt their chest's tighten painfully, and the group broke into a run. Reborn decided which house the yelling was coming from, and whipped out Leon, who turned into a gun without his master even voicing a command. Nono slipped his hand into his jacket and pulled out a gun as well. He wouldn't use his flames unless he had to. Hibari slid out his tonfas and glared at the house. There were herbivores disturbing Namimori's peace...

Dino pulled out his bullwhip with a dark look shadowing his eyes. No one hurt a child. Not on his watch. Bianchi looked up ay her babysitter, then decided to join them. A plate of purple... whatever it used to be, appeared in the young girl's hand, and she eyed the house with displeasure. Hayato, in turn, pulled out his dynamite, but inched away from his older sister, just for safety.

Sagi turned in Reborn's arms and wrapped his hands around the hitman's neck. Reborn didn't even blink, and Nono smiled slightly before returning to the situation. "Reborn?"

"You and I will go left, Dino, take the kids and go 'round that way. We'll corner them."

The two men nodded. "Right."

Sagi climbed up a little and leaned over Reborn's shoulder to look down into Hayato's face. "Otouto-sama?"

"Eto, Hayato-nii. Will you give Sagi some dynamite, pretty please?" The adult's felt their eye's twitch slightly, but they really couldn't say anything. After all, these kids knew what they were doing. Even Dino, who wasn't that old. Perhaps twice Hibari's age. The silver-haired child grinned, nodding, and happily handed over some of his weapons. Reborn straightened as they heard the younger voice call out once again. He narrowed his eyes.

"Go."

And they did.

**(All that you have given to me...)**

Takeshi was just beginning to succumb to the exhaustion when he heard the distant crashes of the compound's gate's being forced open. He'd long decided that Con had latched them shut and made sure they'd stay that way, so the noises were music to his ears and he felt his heart soar. However, he had no time to sing and dance as he ducked another swipe from the mad inmate that was getting closer and closer on his heels.

Then he heard the playful sing-song voice calling out. "_Oh, Rain~ Rain, come out, come out! Sky is here for you!~"_

Takeshi felt a grin threaten to split his face, and he let out a cry of relief. He glanced over his shoulder at Con as he sprinted for the front of the compound, and he saw the black, beady eyes of the inmate widen slightly at the smirk on the child face. "You're gonna get it, now," he breathed, before facing forward and running faster than he thought he could ever.

That was when the first explosion occurred. He wasn't even surprised, though Con jumped in flat-out shock. Something in Takeshi's brain just clicked. _Storm_, it said. _That's the Storm..._

Metal glinted, and something long, hard, silver and black came crashing down on Con's head. The weapon's owner growled threateningly.

_Cloud,_ his mind told him.

But where was the Sky?

Another dynamite exploded, but this time it was aided with the loud, explosive firing of a gun. Takeshi sucked in a huge breath, and grinned triumphantly, before falling to his knees somewhere near the edge of the front yard, lurching forward to wrap his arms around a potted plant. _Sky, I've found you. You've finally come. _He squeezed is eyes shut and pressed his hot forehead into the coolness of the pottery, before turning slightly to watch the new arrivals effortlessly take Con down, staple-gun and all.

He had a thought that the Other Kid was cheering, from somewhere. He felt his father smiling at him—a feeling he didn't think he'd ever have the pleasure of feeling again, and his heart lurched painfully. He closed his eyes again as his shallow breathing worked on leveling out. "_Papa..."_

**(Fly, horizon bound,)**

Finally, _finally_, they bound the madman up. Bianchi glared hard at the cackling ex-inmate and helped Dino tighten the ropes extra tight, just for sure. Hayato took a long breath and stashed his remaining dynamite into his pockets, somewhere. Reborn sat against a wall, checking Leon over before having his familiar shift back into his chameleon form, and the Ninth was leaning against the same wall, re-loading the magazine of his pistol. Hibari sat, Indian-style, before the inmate, staring at the man with a neutral face. They had no clue what he was thinking about. Sagi was nowhere to be seen, but they all had a feeling he was with "Rain."

Hayato looked up at Dino. "Who's he?" He asked, pointing at the inmate. The bond blinked, before shrugging. "Who _cares_?"

Reborn eyes the man, who was still cackling at them. He sighed and walked over, before kneeling and tying a cloth around the unstable man's mouth. The inmate shot him an annoyed look, but the hitman ignored it. Really, he was itching to shoot the guy between the eyes. Hibari saw the gag, and gave Reborn a grateful look before turning back to stare at the inmate in silence.

**(Find the moon behind darkening clouds)**

Sagi knelt next to his Rain, watching the slightly older boy cling to the potted plant, sucking in deep, shuttering breaths. He knew that his Rain's throat would be extremely sore after this.. Well, all of his Rain would be sore, Sagi knew. The orange-clad thief eyes the other boy with sad eyes, before leaning forward and wrapping his arms around him.

His Rain stiffened in his arms, but Sagi understood. "Shhh," he whispered soothingly, "Everything's okay, now." He felt the boy relax slightly. "The Rain did very, very good today." With that, his Rain relaxed completely.

The boy turned to him, and his eyes blue eyes widened. His Rain's face was pale, but his cheeks were flushed with the long hours of running and hiding and allover tension he'd spent before now. Sagi reached up and ran his thumb over his Rain's lips gently, before hugging the boy again. "Everything's okay, now."

His Rain hugged him back, trembling.

**(Even far apart,)**

There was the soft sound of sobbing as Reborn knelt next to the lifeless body, careful not to step in the vast puddles of red that flooded the floor. Takeshi, the boy they'd saved just in time, had appeared extremely tense as he'd led them to this room, and Reborn had had a sense of foreboding. Now he understood why.

Sagi sat next to Takeshi, who had finally given into his emotions and sat at the edge of the room, pressed against the wall as far away as he could get from the body, and cried. His tiny form wracked with heart-wrenching sobs, and Sagi made comforting and sympathetic noises as he hugged the other child. Hayato sat nearby them, eying all the blood with wide eyes. He trembled slightly, and Bianchi captured him in a hug, burying her face in his hair so she wouldn't have to look or smell the sharp, bitter scent of rust and salt. For once, the younger Gokudera didn't shy away from her; instead, he clung back to her, hiding his face in her jacket.

Hibari sat away from them all, but he was fidgeting slightly. He kept glancing at the body, then around at the blood, as if he wasn't sure what to think. He didn't want to be frightened, such a emotion was for weak herbivores, but... He felt the urge to run away climb up his throat. He hid it as a quiet cough, shaking his head to get the stinging sensation out of his eyes. Dino was back with the Ninth, watching over the unconscious inmate that Takeshi had called "Con." Con had, fortunately, decided to take a nap. Hibari hitting him over the head once again with his tonfas might have had something to do with that, though.

Sagi held Takeshi in his arms. The Rain had buried his face in his orange jacket, and they all caught a glimpse of light, slightly golden blond hair and Sagi's hood was pushed back a bit from the force of the embrace, but no one commented on it. Now was not the time.

They were all silent as Reborn stood up and examined the body further, thoughts forcing themselves elsewhere, though something was eating at them, trying to catch his attention. It was almost like his mind didn't want to, though. The background noises consisted of breathless sobbing, and Sagi's calm, almost cooing voice. The running water of the stream that ran through nearby, and the slight _squelching _sound that Reborn's shoe made when he slipped on the blood. The cries escalated slightly after that. Sagi hummed softly, rocking back a little.

That tug pulled on Reborn's mind, further distracting him, but he didn't even notice it. The force called, but he couldn't hear.

_It's coming, _it said. _It's almost time for things to change, _it said.

But he didn't hear. He had never heard.

But Sagi had.

He smiled gently as he rocked back and forth with his Rain in his arms, whispering words of comfort.

_New time's are approaching._

**(Know our soul's together will be.)**

_This chapter is dedicated to Toumei Ai. Peace, my friend. XP_

_**So. I know, I know, I said the review goal was 222... But... Now that I **_**have****_ that day off, all my brain wanted to do was write. T^T Why me... WHY?_**

_**Siiigh... Ah well. You guys were close, anyway. 217, not bad, not bad. Let's make that 232, now. That's the new review goal.**_

_**So, I saved Takeshi, we all happy? I am ^ ^ I think Imma cry a bit now... Poor Takeshi... T^T I'm so sooorrrryyyyy! R-Really. Sorry XC I needed to get rid of your dad, though, and... yeah... **_

_**S-So... Review, then. I don't have anything else to say, now, really.**_

_**Love you all. Thanks,**_

_**~Scylar X.**_


	11. It's All Sunshine and Rainbows

_**-Left Us Falling-**_

_**~It's all Sunshine and Rainbows~**_

_It started out as a feeling,_

_which then grew into a hope,_

_which then grew into a quiet thought,_

_which then grew into a quiet word._

_And then that word grew louder and louder,_

_until it was a battle cry._

_I'll come back, _

_when you call me._

_No need to say goodbye._

Sagi bit his lip, concentrating as much as he could. He carefully moved his hands up, and everyone held their breath as he moved his fingers slower than a snail. Careful, or it would—

___Crash!_

Everyone winced at the loud noise as the tower of Leon, and all the other arcobaleno pets tumbled to the ground. Sagi pouted slightly and leaned back. "Aw~ ...Sagi won." He decided.

Reborn frowned at him. "But they fell." He pointed out slowly.

Sagi gave him a cheeky smile. "Hai, hai."

The hitman gave out a loud, almost-frustrated sigh and leaned back. Then he shook his head._ No! _He was Reborn, he didn't get frustrated! With anything! Especially not this kid!

Well, Sagi wasn't just any kid, so maybe he could let it slide—

_Stop!_ No! Just, no! You're Reborn, worlds greatest hitman! Do not finish that line of thought!

But—

Are you going soft? _Well_?!

___No__, _of___course_ not! Never! Why would you_—_

Reborn blinked, and his eyes widened behind his glasses as he realized everyone had moved over a bit as Sagi grew bored yet again and began to re-stack the animals. Had he just been having an argument with himself? Well, that was disturbing.

Sagi let out a long, pent-up sigh and crawled on the top of Verde's pet alligator. The scientist had long since grown used to having the tiny thief get in the way of his work, so he didn't even look up from his research as Sagi began to lounge lazily on the green, hard, almost-scaly back of his familiar.

Takeshi was curled up against Dino's side, observing the whole scene with a shadowed face. Reborn frowned slightly. Dino had grown slightly protective of the young "Rain," as everyone had taken to calling the boy. Rain was quiet, too quiet. Reborn knew he hadn't always been like that. Well, the recent circumstances might have called for this behavior. But Takeshi would need to be pulled out of his depression soon, something had to be done. Reborn decided to try and talk about it with Sagi later that night. He'd take the thief on a quick walk to the canteen for dango, since the conversation was to be held alone, and his apartment wasn't as empty as it used to be. For some weird reason, all the kids that had been popping up recently had decided to lodge at his place. For the life of him, Reborn couldn't figure out why. Well, maybe it had something to do with Sagi—scratch that, ___everything_ had to do with Sagi. Lately, it seemed that everything had been centered around that adorable, lovable tiny little thief.

___Time's are changing._

Reborn froze. What was that? Sagi stopped drumming on the crocodile's and looked over at him with a secretive smile, like he'd heard it as well. Like he knew exactly what was going on. Reborn felt his eyes twitch when the voice didn't answer him, but he saw Sagi tilt his head to the side as he stared at the hitman, as if he was listening to something, and then he nodded his head and continued to play with the crocodile.

Reborn exhaled and sat back in his seat, frowning. What was that? Was Sagi somehow keyed into his thoughts? He shook his head, then. Yeah right.

"Mr. Reborn?" He felt a tug at his jacket, and looked down. Sagi seemed to be nervous about something. He frowned when Sagi continued, his voice small and a bit shaky. "C-Can Sagi talk to you, now?"

Reborn tilted his fedora forward and gazed down at the tiny thief, before nodding slowly, turning right around and walking out o f the room. Sagi followed after no matter how fast his pace was.

Soon they arrived outside the complex, and Reborn turned to Sagi and crouched down to eye-level with those strange glowing orange orbs. "So, Sagi. What did you want to speak to me about?"

Sagi began to play with the hem of his jacket, something Reborn noticed that the child did when he was nervous or anxious—the habit had actually only showed up lately, with the Rain incident. "H-hai. Sagi wanted to talk about the Rain..."

Reborn narrowed his eyes and tilted his head a little, observing Sagi quietly. The hitman hummed. "No... I don't think those are the right words, do you, Sagi-kun? I think you want to talk more about how it affected you, is that right?" Sagi nodded eagerly, clearly relieved that the hitman understood what he was trying to get at. Reborn let out a low sounding sigh and reached forward under Sagi's hood to tousle his hair, which he knew was blond now. It reminded him of sunlight, actually. And it was extremely soft, too, softer than he'd ever expect hair to be. Some of it flopped down in front of Sagi's eyes as he ran his hand through it, and the tiny thief eyed them interestedly, as if he didn't see them at all that often, which Reborn had a good guess that he didn't, with his hood up. Reborn shook out of his thought as looked down at Sagi, who was starting to tremble slightly again.

"You must not be fully recovered from these recent incidents, are you." He murmured speculatively, though it wasn't really a question, then reached both hands out and pulled Sagi to his chest. The tiny phantom thief clung to his jacket like it was the last human thing left in a world of vicious monsters and buried his face into Reborn's neck, still trembling. Reborn rubbed his back soothingly as he heard soft, muffled choking sounds. Sagi could cry silently, it seemed.

He sighed and shook his head, murmuring to the child ever now and then as he scaled the wall of the complex and entered his apartment via window, feeling immensely displeased that he was able to break in. He'd have to have that fixed. Though he was the very best, the fact he was able to break in himself meant that the security wasn't doing it's job right. He'd talk to Verde in the morning about it. Of course, he'd have gone to complain immediately, but... He looked down at the tiny, orange-clad child in his arms and reminded himself why he decided to break in through the window in the first place.

"Shh," he whispered quietly, hoping not to wake I-pin and Hibari, who had decided to come up a while ago to nap. That nine-year-old sure loved his naps... "Shhh, it's alright. It's okay, Sagi."

He jumped up nimbly and settled down on the counter, next to the once-empty fruit bowl which was now full of fruit. Some of which he'd never heard before. Once they'd noticed the distinct lack of snackage in his apartment, all the children pooled together and raided the nearest market. With money, of course. He had his doubts about Sagi, though. That kid seemed to be used to taking what he wanted and needed and leaving before anyone noticed it was gone. At the least, he noticed that there was a variety of food he'd never heard of before, and had no clue how to prepare. Luckily he had Sagi, Hibari, and surprisingly I-pin for that, though, so no worries.

Sagi shook his head slightly to nuzzle closer into his shoulder, and Reborn felt tears being rubbed into the skin on his neck. He sighed again and continued to run his fingers up and down Sagi's back.

There was a rustle of blankets from the bed, but Reborn decided not to pay attention to it. If it was an assassin, he'd kill them later.

He looked down and adjusted Sagi's hood more over the child's eyes and leaned back against the wall, still sitting on the counter, and began to think on what had happened earlier. Sagi had appeared to be able to hear the voice that had whispered into his mind... how? He shook his head. It seemed that this kid was full of mysteries to solve. Then again, Reborn had some doubts that anyone would ever solve them... it was all just too confusing. At least he could get some of what Sagi was about. Like how he talked and whatnot. He frowned and ran through what he knew, until he got to something particular that he'd noticed about the thief.

___"Sagi will go with Mr. Reborn to the Vongola, because Sagi is very bored now. Nothing happens a lot." _

Nothing, nothing, ___nothing__, ____**nothing.**_ What did that word mean to Sagi? "Nothing?" What did it mean tothis kid, whose mind was almost like an impossible maze, with so many twists and turns and traps and dead ends that you wouldn't be able to tell top from bottom, left from right, up from down, forward from backward? What did it mean?

___Nothing happens a lot..._

Reborn jumped as another child climbed up on the counter and leaned over his lap to rest a hand on Sagi's shoulder. Sagi stilled, and Reborn looked down and met the calculating deep blue eyes of Hibari Kyoya. He saw something flash in them. Something like_ "____protective__."_ Like him. Like whenever he looked down the see Sagi smiling up at him and tugging on the hem of his jacket for another adventure. Somehow, that tiny little phantom thief and made himself at home in the Vongola, and Reborn knew that the mafia famiglia would never be the same if he ever left.

"Oi, Otouto. Why are you making weak sounds like a herbivore?" Hibari scolded, but his voice was soft as he hugged Sagi's form from behind.

Sagi sniffed slightly. "Onii-san..."

Hibari hummed, nuzzling his face into Sagi's neck. "Otouto is an omnivore." Reborn raised an eyebrow. That was a new term from the Cloud. "And as such, Otouto should not be so weak as to cry. Because then Otouto will make me, a carnivore, weak as well. I am a carnivore. I will not be weak." Hibari reached forward and grasped Sagi's chin and pulled his face up so he could meet those glowing orange eyes. "So Otouto will not cry anymore, hai?" He pressed, narrowing his own eyes.

"...Hai." Sagi whispered.

Reborn almost snorted. But he was thinking the same thing.

**(You choke the tears down now,)**

The child squinted as he gazed up at the sun that sat high in the sky. It had always seemed so familiar to him, a constant. It was always _there_, and the fact that it would remain calmed him down when he needed it. Times now were tough—he was young, on the streets. Only him and his sister, and they rarely had any money. His parents, why had they thrown them out like trash? He looked up at the bright ball of fire that would always rise and set each day, paying no mind to what went on below, never stopping for anyone. He'd thought his parents had loved him, him and his sister. They'd been great kids, hadn't they? They'd always done what they were told, never argues, always listened...

He looked back up at the sun. he wanted to be like that. Always shining, there to light up everyone's day and make it brighter, warmer. _Always constant_. Never stopping for anyone no matter what. _Always there_. He tried his best to follow the sun's role. He was always there, always there for his sister. Trying to brighten up her day. And he did, she counted on him, loved him, adored him. But somehow, somewhere, he felt it wasn't enough. He wanted to brighten up more people's days. Special people, but he never saw them. Not anywhere.

But he'd keep looking.

Because soon, he would be the sun.

**(But you'll only cough them back up again)**

Sagi still sat on Reborn's lap, with one of his gloved hands clasping the hem of the hitman's jacket. The rest of his weather that he'd been able to gather had come up to the room, along with Bianchi and Dino, who seemed to like to hang around the group lately, about half an hour before. Reborn was lounging on his bed, leaning against the headboard. He was sleeping with his fedora pulled down over his eyes. Sagi knew he had a game to play the next day—or, Reborn called the games "jobs," for some reason that Sagi couldn't understand. But the thief had decided to stick close to Reborn for now until he left. Mr. Reborn made him feel safe.

He looked over to the window and saw the setting sun. It was a nice, deep orange color, and Sagi felt safe now. He liked the color orange. He didn't fully understand why, but it always reminded him of ___something_—and he didn't know what. He felt safe with orange. Orange protected him...

Sagi felt a small smile came onto his face and the other kids in the room continued to play a silent game of shadow puppets with Dino—even Hibari, who was decidedly good at lions and tigers.

He'd get to meet the sun soon. His sun. No one elses. And then his sun would finally be able to do his job—they'd be one-step closer to finishing this first game.

**(If you didn't have the friends you have)**

___The chapter is dedicated to Dreams and Fantasy._

___**I'm sorry it's so short! I was very disappointed with myself when I couldn't do anything spectacular for my favorite number, 11, which this chapter is. I'm completely obsessed with that number, scarily so. I think I have a problem... Anyway, the reason I haven't updated so soon after the review count was reached is because I caught a really bad cold a few days ago, and my head hurt whenever I tried to think. It's trying to kill me, I swear!**_

___**The new review count goal will be... Let's go with 273. I'd have said 300 just to challenge you all, since one of you reviewers said that you'd have even 400 in perhaps less than a week, but I didn't want to be mean... O-o **_

___**XD**_

___**Anyway, The Rain arc of this story just recently ended, and I have to admire how strong Takeshi has been in the duration of losing everything he had left in the world . Well... not everything ;) I know many of you have some questions about his father's death. If Tsuyoshi is dead, who will teach Takeshi the special sword style? Yes, I know this has probably been running through all of your minds lately, but do not fear! I shall be answering that and a few other questions you may or may not have in future chapters, so hold on tight! In fact, I'll also be adding something else onto Takeshi's character to help with that.**_

___**Anyway, now we've seemed to move right along onto the Sun Arc. I'm sure all of you were able to guess who that boy was, yes? And please do not worry, I will be keeping Kyoko in the picture, as well as adding in Haru sometime soon. Of course, I'm not going to rush things, but I thought I should probably notify you guys that I wasn't leaving them out or anything ^ ^**_

___**For some reason, lately, I've become displeased with the cover image for this story O.O so I've decided to give a short, yet important, shoutout to any artists, mainly deviantART but also otherwise, out there who want to take up the duty of making a cover for this story! I don't really have any preferences, but I'd like Sagi to be in the picture, if it's all the same to you XD If you think you're up to the challenge, please PM me, or go to deviantART and leave a comment that you are accepting on my profile, which is under that same username as here. If multiple artists decide to make a cover, I will hold a small contest to see which one I like the best, then notify the winner and dedicate a chapter to them. I will be featuring the covers the other artists make in my group, D4RKNOV4, as well as adding them to the favorite section of that group. As for the winner, as well as dedicating a chapter to them, which I've been doing for reviewers every chapter if you hadn't already noticed, I will be featuring the winner themselves in that very chapter.**_

___**I hope you will take the challenge ^ ^ I really would like some cover for this story. That would totally make my day. Fanart will be treated the same, it doesn't really have to be a cover. All Left Us Falling fanart will be featured in my group, and I'll also send the artists invites to join it.**_

___**Anyway... I think I covered everything I wanted to go over now. If any of you have questions about the story, or about the art contest, please feel absolutely free to PM me! I'm always open, and I try my best to respond to every PM I get!**_

___**As for the title of this chapter, it actually means something XP I don't pick random stuff for these, ya know. The sunshine's for Ryohei, and the Rainbow is for the arcobaleno.**_

___**A lot of people have been asking me lately what the italics at the beginning of each chapter are for, and what the bold in parenthesis that I put in the place of linebreakers are for. I though a reviewer answered that quite nicely for me, even though they were asking abut it at the time as well. **_

___**Here is their review: "**____You know, random thought here, i love how you insert those bold words in the middle of the story where( i think, maybe, i don't know) that theres supposed to be a line break, that connect to the others -somewhat- and explain the main idea of the chapter____**..." Thank you, otaku908, for that lovely explanation. I think that tells them. Actually, ,i hadn't really noticed that much until you pointed it out to me, but I guess I've been doing it subconsciously...**_

___**As for the whole "Sagi's blond" fiasco: YES. Sagi is BLOND Why? Because I wanted him to be. It's mostly for the factor of cuteness, but it also has a little something to do with the shock everyone in the Vongola will receive when they finally see Sagi's identity and find out a mini-Giotto'**____**s been running around. XD**_

___**Okay, so maybe it **_**does**___**have a little something to do with the plot, but why would I tell **_**you**___** all **__**that**____**...? XP**_

___**Oh, look at that. Looks like I had more to say after all~**_

___**Than you for reading!**_

___**~Scylar X.**_


	12. The Mirror Verse

_**-Left Us Falling-**_

_**~The Mirror Verse~**_

_Saving,_

_Faster,_

_breaking_

_the plaster._

_The faster we go,_

_the more you will shatter,_

_the harder we fight, _

_the more you will splatter,_

_against the walls._

_Fighting the beasts inside,_

_it's a hard war to death._

_But might_

_break,_

_bones shall_

_snap,_

_shake,_

_hearts will race,_

_away,_

_from the source of all hate._

A flash.

"_Did you know, the human body holds 206 bones in all?"_

They're crashing down again.

"_I should know..."_

He was thrown against a wall.

"_I've felt them all, right here in my hands."_

The lights were so bright...

"_They weren't **mine**, of course, no..." He smiled._

They hurt his eyes...

_Someone else was talking, now. _

"_Have you ever felt so, completely, utterly lost?"_

The brightness stung, and tears were gathering, starting to fall...

"_Have you ever wished you could disappear, and become nothing?"_

He couldn't hold them back.

"_That way, you could at least escape the pain, right?"_

He was very young, he was expected to cry every now and then...

"_That's what I want."_

But not like this...

"_I want to disappear."_

"Sagi..."

"_I just want to disappear."_

"Sagi."

"_I don't want to **exist** anymore..."_

"Sagi!"

Orange eyes blinked, and the tiny thief looked up. "Hai, hai, Sagi is listening. Un?"

Hibari narrowed his eyes. "What were you thinking about, just now? You looked like you were going to collapse, Otouto."

Sagi tilted his head back a little to peer into his Cloud's eyes. "Hm. Sagi was listening..."

"To what?"

"..." Sagi looked away.

"What were you listening to?" Bianchi asked him quietly. Hayato sat next to her, looking at the phantom thief with a tilted head, quizzically.

Sagi was silent for a few moment, before smiling brashly and placing a gloved finger to his lips. "Sagi was... listening... to the..."

The adults looked over at him. Reborn had gone away for a job earlier that morning, so they children had fallowed Dino to a meeting with the Nono, Iemitsu, and a few other adults in the Vongola. "Sagi?" Nono asked, raising an eyebrow. "What were you listening to?" Takeshi shifted in his seat and peered at his beloved Sky curiously.

Sagi began to giggle, but it didn't sound... happy. Everyone felt shivers crawling down their spines. It sounded half-hysterical, _empty_. "Sagi was listening to the mists..."

"_I don't want to exist anymore..."_

**(The walls are starting to fall...)**

"Everything is so wrong, isn't it, Nii-sama?"

He smiled coyly. "Ah, but everything is just the way it's supposed to be, my dear little sister."

The purple-eyes girl tightened her grip on his sleeve, and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her so she wouldn't be snatched away. "It's like Wonderland. Everything is what it should be, but everything is out of place." She observed, glancing around them as they floated there, suspended in forever.

"Contrary!" He cried, smiling widely as he let her loose and spun her around as if in a dance. "Everything is in exactly the right place!" She giggled, then latched back onto him in fear as the atmosphere groaned eerily.

"Then what does that make us, Mukuro-sama?" She whispered, violet orbs darting around.

His bangs shadowed his face as he held her to him tightly, trying his best to ignore the air around them.

"... There are only black and white chess pieces here, Chrome, dear. We are the red ones."

She tilted her head down, but her gently grasped her chin and tilted it back up; she raised her eyebrows when she looked into his mismatched eyes. He grinned. "But that's what makes it _fun_."

"Are we going to play again, Nii-sama?"

"Hai, Imouto. And what did I tell you about the "sama" part?"

"You said to drop it."

"I _did_."

"Gomen."

"Aw, that's alright. You're too cute to say no to~"

**(Their minds are opening up,)**

"Ne, Sky-sama." Takeshi called.

Sagi beamed and darted over to the slightly taller child. "Ohaiyo, Rain!"

"Hai, hai. Sky-sama, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure~ Sagi is listening!"

"Where are the Mists? Didn't you say there were two?"

Sagi stilled. "...Hai."

Takeshi tilted his head a little. "Then... why aren't they here?"

"The Mists are in the mirrors..."

Takeshi frowned, titling his head. "What do you mean, Sky-sama?"

Sagi stepped forward and hugged Takeshi tightly, burying his face into the six-year-old's dark blue sweatshirt. The Rain stepped back at the sudden contact, surprised.

"The Mists are not here right now."

**(and soon they'll be able to see.)**

"Oi, Otouto-sama, then what about the Sun?" Hayato had just finished talking with Takeshi, and had come to Sagi with a few questions while the younger boy was eating lunch in the canteen.

Sagi finished off another stick of dango before grabbing an egg roll. "The Sun is on his way here. Soon, soon, he'll be coming. And he's going to bring the Moon, too."

Hayato paused, frowning. "There's a Moon? I don't think there's a moon, Otouto."

"Hai," Sagi nodded. "The Moon isn't one of Sagi's weathers, but she is very important to the Sun."

"Oh.." Hayato thought hard on that. "I see! It's his sister, right? That one you were talking about when we went to get Yamamoto-san?"

Sagi just smiled.

"Ne, ne, Sagi-chan!" Bianchi called as she, too, sat next to him. Sagi looked up from his onigiri. "Why do you have _two_ Mists?"

Sagi giggled. "Sagi mist be very special!"

"Is it significant?, though?" The girl asked, tilting her head. Hayato edged away from her and tugged Sagi along with him, face green.

"Hai, hai!" Sagi nodded happily. "The Mists are connected." He set his food down and intertwined her fingers, showing them the movement. He dropped his hands and reached again for his food.

"Aren't we all, though?" Hayato asked. "Well, except for Bianchi." The girl sneered at him.

"Mmm..." Sagi tilted his head as he munched on the food. "Hai... But the Mists connection is deeper than Sagi and the others'."

"What about me, though, Otouto-sama? Am I connected closer to someone like that?"

Sagi smiled at him. "Iie, not as close, but Sagi knows who."

Hayato leaned in. "Who?"

Sagi sent him a serious look. "The Rain needs the Storm, Hayato-nii. The Rain is crying. Storm should comfort him. The Rain and the Storm should be very close."

Hayato looked horrified. "Wh-What's happening to Takeshi-kun?"

Sagi pushed him gently. "Go comfort the Rain, please, Hayato-nii. He needs you." He told the older boy quietly."

Hayato stared at him, face slack, until he nodded determinately and ran out of the canteen.

Bianchi sighed, resting her elbows on the table so support her chin. "Those two are gonna be best friends, ne Sagi-chan?"

"Hai."

**(The pictures will start moving in sync,)**

She held out her finger and watched in baited breath as the small, yellow canary fluttered over to land on her extended appendage. "This belongs to our Cloud, right, Nii-sama?" He let out the breath and looked over at her older brother.

He leaned over to gaze at the bird as it chirped happily. He smiled, and for once it had nothing but breathlessness attached. She thought he looked much better without that poker face. "Hai. At least, that is what our Sky says. And I think we can trust our Sky."

"He is very good, then?"

He chuckled, bringing her in for a hug. The canary let out a musical note as if flutter at the sudden movement and went up to settle in his hair. "Hai. He is very, very good."

"Didn't you say you were amazed at his purity, Mukuro-sama?"

"And I am," He told her as he gazed out into the vast expanse of nothingness, yet somethingness, that surrounded them. "I am very amazed, Impressed, as well. He is a very inspiring person, Chrome."

"Is he? What's he like? Why can you hear him but not me?" She cried, slightly upset. The atmosphere groaned out again, but they both ignored it this time.

He held a finger to her lips. "Soon, Chrome, dear. Soon, you will see."

**(And they will all be connected once more.)**

_This chapter is dedicated to darkreverie13._

_**I feel sick. I really do. I've been lightheaded throughout writing this whole chapter, so that might be why it's so unbelievably short o-o My apologies.**_

_**Anyway, since I noticed that, since the review count has been at 271 for the past three days without move, it was time to update anyway~ Now, the new goal is 283 reviews.**_

_**I have nothing to say, this time. I just want to take a a nap and perhaps feel better afterward. Wish me luck~**_

_**Love you guys, please review!**_

_**~Scylar X. **_


	13. Stars

_**-Left Us Falling-**_

_**~Stars~**_

_I have no reason now to stay,_

_But I will think of you and pray,_

_That you will find someone to love again._

_I'm leaving and I won't come back;_

_You'll find your way,_

_you'll be alright._

_But promise me you won't forget my name._

"Takeshi! Takeshi! Oi, _Takeshi_!" Hayato called, but let out an exasperated sigh when the other child didn't even turn around. It seemed that Takeshi was used to being called "rain" nowadays. The silver haired child shrugged. "Well, whatever." He muttered, before cupping hiss hands around his mouth and shouting again. "Ne—_Rain_!"

The black-haired boy spun around and looked over at him in surprise. Hayato rolled his eyes and waved his hand for the other to come over. Takeshi—or, _Rain_, raised his eyebrows pleasantly, and began to make his way to to slightly older child.

"Hai? Hayato-kun, did you need something?"

"Un," Hayato nodded. "I was talking to Otouto-sama earlier, and he said—"

Rain jerked in surprise, before interrupting him. "Sky-sama? Did he need me to do something? What is it?"

Hayato made a face of irritation, and blew his bangs out of his face in annoyance. "_Iie_. I wanted to talk to you. So me, Aniki, and Otouto-sama were talking when Otouto-sama was eating lunch, and we asked him why he had two Mists, ne? And Otouto-sama told us that there were two because they were _connected_, somehow, like this," He weaved his fingers together, and Rain watched in interest. "—and I asked him if it was just them, cuz I wanted to know if I was connected to anybody like the Mists were, and he said that it was only the Mists—which I thought kinda sucked, ya know?—but _then_ he told me that you were _crying_." Hayato narrowed his eyes at Rain, who looked surprised. Rain brought a hand up to his face, which was completely free of tears—though Hayato caught sight some slim, red rings surrounding his dark blue eyes. Rain cast him a confused look, and Hayato continued. "Well, he said "The Rain is crying," and that "the Rain needs to Storm," so I'm just guessing he meant you and me, but I was kinda worried about you, so I came over to see if there was anything wrong."

Hayato leaned forward as if he was sharing a secret, and Rain leaned in too, eyes wide with curiosity, but a little bit of hurt and wonder as well. "So... Is everything okay? Are you okay? I know losing somebody so quick," Hayato snapped his fingers, and they both flinched slightly. "—just like that is really hard, but then I met Otouto-sama, and he made me feel _loads_ better..." Hayato turned away, blushing a little. "Um, I just wanted you to know that you can talk to me if you need anything, ne?" He said, now a little nervous about all of this. Before Rain could reply, Hayato turned away as quick as he could and ran out of the room with a cheerful, albeit hesitant wave over his shoulder.

Takeshi paused, watching the other boy leave. He sat down on the bench in the corridor with a sound thud, and brought his hands up to touch his cheeks again. They weren't dry anymore.

**(Only you)**

It was a quick job, really. Just like all the others, actually. He never really got any challenges, anymore. It wasn't surprising, though—he was the best of the best. The hitman of all Hitman. The—

"_You really need to toned down that ego, you know."_

And _there_ was that voice again. Reborn's shoulder's slumped. Honestly, where was it _coming_ from?!

"_Gods, you're a moron. Use your **brain** for once!"_

Reborn had decided, once the voice had started talking insults, that it was frustrated and had dropped the whole "mysterious and knowing" attitude on him just to get his attention. Well, it was working. He sucked in a breath, and thought back—well what else was he suppose to do? He wasn't used to this! _"Do you need something?"_

The voice ignored his question. _"i mean, seriously, it's so goddamn annoying, you know? You of all people should know not to get a big head, but your ego is... Good lord, you're such a hypocrite. I'm done being nice! Get prepared to hear the cold, hard truth, honey."_

Reborn rolled his eyes. The voice did _not_ just call him "_**honey**_." It was _male_, he was _male_, so unless the voice was some sort of homosexual, then—

"_What are you, some sort of homophobe?! Get with the times, man! People are going after their own genders **all** the freaking **time**, nowadays. That's not saying I'm liking you, mind. I don't have a sex. I know, creepy right? I prefer to be called male, thank you very much, but—_

Reborn was scowling, now. _"Please get to the point?"_

The voice seemed to let out an exasperated sigh. "_Gods, I've been trying to talk with you ever since you got your curse lifted by—" _It coughed. _"Right, yeah. Not supposed to tell you that one. But still. You just now gained the brain capacity to understand me, and you spend the valuable ability pissing me off? What kind of ex-arcobaleno __**are**__ you?"_

"_...Eh?" _Reborn paused, frowning. What? What immature, annoying little alien _was_ this? And how did the voice know about...

"_I can **hear** you, ya know. And I know about it cuz I was **there**. Anyway, I guess I should thank that adorable little phantom thief—he picks up on **everything**, ya know, even caught onto **me**—"_

Reborn froze. _"What do you know of Sagi?!"_ He growled slightly, and the man who's throat he was about to slice jerked, looking up at him with a squeak of fear. The hitman shook his head and offed him, before flitting over and moving on to the next guy, who was staring at his now glassy-eyes buddy in horror. What kind of mafiosos were these guys? Couldn't even see their comrades fall—Reborn snorted in amusement. "Pathetic."

"_What can I say?"_

_Anything._ Was Reborn's fleeting thought. Voices in his head, adorable little five-year-old phantom thieves, missing Sky Rings—right now, Reborn just wanted to hear _something_ to make sense of the crazy roller coaster his life had set off as lately.

"_The kid can hear me."_

And _that_ definitely wasn't helping any. At all.

**(Only me)**

Today, it was very hard not to cry. Usually, he could just look down at his sister, and smile, and be the sun he so wanted to be—but today it was too much—too much. Just too much.

At first, his heart was pounding when he heard Kyoko scream. He'd ran as fast as he could, as fast as his legs could carry him. It was fast, but not fast enough. The man with the knife had had her, one burly arms clasped around her torso, the other hand holding the glinting silver up to her neck. He was frozen, he didn't know what to do. The man was so big, he was... He was the blimps that blocked out the sun in the sky. The shadows... Ryohei didn't know what to do...

Kyoko has began to scream for him, crying, sobbing, and he was frozen, he had no clue how to save her, his little sister, she was...

Then that other man had come, he'd thrown the burly blimp man off of his sister. Ryohei had grabbed her and ran out of the alley, for once completely irritated that the streets seemed empty. Where was all the people when you needed them?!

He'd held his sister and had hidden behind a trash bin. There was a struggle back in the alley, things crashing, thumps, yells, and then it was all quiet. Ryohei had tightened his hold on Kyoko, who trembled but was completely silent. They looked up to see a man walk out of the alley—it was the burly man. Ryohei's heart dropped. He had a victorious smirk on his face. He cracked his knuckles and caught sight of them. Kyoko had squeezed her eyes shut ad they both shrunk back, but the burly man didn't advance. He only glanced back at the entrance to the alley, then back at them. He made eye contact with Ryohei, and sneered, before smirking again and dashing back down the street.

Ryohei felt guilty now. He felt guilt about leaving the other man to face the burly man alone. Now, as Kyoko clung to the other an, crying her eyes out over his cold, lifeless body. He felt lower than dirt. How could he be the sun, like this? When he just ran away? The sun didn't just protect the moon, it stood firm, unmovable, looking anything and everything in the face. It didn't run away—_never_.

He stood up shakily as he heard sirens. They couldn't stay. He looked down at the dead man and pulled off the man's camo army jacket. He felt bad about stealing from the man, it was disrespectful, but he felt like the man would have wanted him to do it any way. It was still summer, but winter always, _always_, came after that, and then it would be cold again. The jacket was warm.

As he lead his little Moon away from the alley, she was still crying, and Ryohei resolved to never forget that sneering face of the burly man. One day, he would brake it into a million, tiny little pieces.

**(In between)**

Reborn ducked through the window—he didn't trust doors, they left too much room for traps to be set—of his Vongola apartment to find it full of sleeping children. He sighed, giving up. His life wasn't going to return to normal, was it? He kind of wished he never met Sagi, and then none of this would have happened, but that was almost a non-existent part of him. He'd grown rather..._attached_, to Sagi.

He shrugged off his black Italian suit jacket and laid it over the arm of a chair, before turning and placing his hands on his hips so he could scout out a place to sleep, since the bed was taken.

Two, wide glowing orbs look up at him when he glanced at the bed, and Then the phantom thief was flying over to tackle his legs in a hug. "Mr. Reborn!" Sagi whispered excitedly. "You're back, now!"

Reborn let out an almost silent snort, before leaning down to pick the tiny orange clad thief up. Sagi was still wearing his hoodie, with the hood up, of course, but now he was dressed in solid black, plain pajamas, most likely courtesy of Hayato or one of the other children barring I-pin, who was too small. "Hai, Sagi-kun."

"Did you have fun?"

Reborn paused on his way to the kitchen for something to eat, and thought on that, seriously. Did he enjoy his time? With that voice?

He took in a breath, and continued walking over to the fridge. "...I _guess_ so..."

"_Ah HA1 so, you **do** like me!" _The voice sounded oh so _very_ smug about that. _"Knew it!~"_

Sagi smiled, and Reborn was reminded that the thief could hear it, too. "Ne, Sagi. What are you doing in my head, anyway?" Oh yeah, like _that_ didn't sound creepy at all. Reborn shook himself and looked down at Sagi, who appeared absolutely innocent. _Bull._

"Well..." The child started out mischievously. "Sagi does tend to be somebody nobody forgets a lot..."

Reborn whacked the kid upside the head lightly, almost afraid he would hurt him, but knew there wasn't anything to that. Sagi was a tough as titanium, really. Somehow. "You _know_ that's not what I mean."

"_Of course he does." _The voice chuckled lightly. Reborn sighed, almost relieved, as the entity—person?—thing.—slipped back into its wise, mysterious persona. No more witty banter, hallelujah!

"Hai." Sagi quieted. "...Ano... Sagi doesn't really know?"

Reborn stopped, midway in opening the fridge, and looked down at the kid, seriously. "Sagi..."

Sagi slumped, defeated. "Iie, Sagi won't lie—Sagi never lies." He looked back up at the hitman. "Sagi met Mr. Reborn before, remember? Oh, no, but Mr. Reborn doesn't remember. Sagi can't tell Mr. Reborn... Gomen."

Reborn sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get anything else out of the kid, and pulled out a container of egg-noodle soup from the fridge. He closed the fridge silently and walked over to the microwave, slipping the door open and taking off the plastic lid before setting the container inside. He pressed a button on the dial, and watched as the soup began to spin round and round. He looked back at Sagi. "You hungry?"

Sagi smiled. "Ayah, Sagi is _always_ hungry."

Reborn chuckled, smiling slightly. "Of course."

**(There will be)**

_This chapter is dedicated to Beauty in decay.~_

**So... I've only had one submission for the cover of this story. Slightly disappointed in that, but it can't really be helped. I've decided that I'll wait a while before looking at them together and deciding, but I'll need some more covers for that. It would also help if you had a deviantART account ^ ^**

**I apologize for taking so damn long to post, truly! I mean.. it's been, what, a month? Maybe less.. .I don't remember! That means it's been a LONG TIME! I'M SORRRRY! I'm also sorry this is short, but I guess it's better than nothing. I have a lot going on lately.**

**Anyway, new review goal: 327. Yup~**

… **Review count right now? 308. Blows my mind guys, really. I love you ALL *glomps***

**Anyway, read an review! I will try my very best this time to post sooner when the goal is reached.. ^ ^' Really, I will! I guess I was busy with my other stories, Bae'que(that's my new Harry potter/Lord of the Rings fanfiction—it's going amazingly well. It's an elfling fic, for anyone who is interested`) and It May take A Battleground(My Percy Jackson story. That one is a semi-cliche Chaos one, again, for anyone who is interested. I just posted the third chapter ^ ^)**

**Anyway,, hope you liked this chapter! I tried to add in more Reborn/Sagi bonding at the end there... And all my wishers, don't fear! I'm working on writing in your wishes!**

**Love ya!~**

**~Scylar X.**


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